BX  4933  .S9  B8  1882 
Burrage,  Henry  Sweetser, 
1837-1926. 

A  history  of  the  Anabaptist 
in  Switzerland 

HISTORY 


OF  THE 


ANABAPTISTS 


SWITZERLAND. 


HISTORY 


OP    THE 


D1 


TB1S 1 


D 


MM 


BY 


HENRY  S.'"BURRAGE. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

American  Baptist  Publication  Society, 

1420  CHESTNUT  STREET. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1882,  by  the 

AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


The  affairs  of  Switzerland  occupy  a  very  small  space  in  the 
great  chart  of  European  history.  But  in  some  respects  they 
are  more  interesting  than  the  revolutions  of  mighty  kingdoms. 
Nowhere  besides  do  we  find  so  many  titles  to  our  sympathy,  or 
the  union  of  so  much  virtue  with  so  complete  success. 

— Hallam,  Middle  Ages,  ii.  1C8. 

Unstreitig  verdienen  die  Kampfe,  welche  die  Ziiricher  Wie- 
dertaufer  zur  Reformationszeit  veranlasst  haben,  auch  heute 
noch  gewiirdigt  zu  werden. 

— Egli,  Die  Ziiricher  Wiedertciufer,  s.  91. 

Sie  sehen  sich,  ein  kleines  Hauflein,  der  ganzen  feindlichen 
Welt  gegenuber,  aber  in  der  Zuversicht,  die  Wahrheit  zu  be- 
sitzen,  verachten  sie  die  furchtsamen  Ausleger  des  Wortes  Gottes, 
die  nicht  gedenken  dass  Gott  heute  wie  gestern  sei,  und  verkla- 
ren  ihre  Aussicht  auf  Angst  und  Xoth  durch  den  Hinblick  auf 
Christus  und  die  Apostel,  die  auf  demselben  Weg  der  Leiden 
ihnen  zur  Herrlichkeit  vorangegangen. 

— Cornelius,  Geschichte  des  MUnsterischen  Aufruhrs,  s.  ii.  24. 


PEEFACE. 


Too  little  attention  has  been  given  to  the  Anabaptists  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  No  one  among  us  would  be  satisfied  with 
a  history  of  the  Reformation  in  Germany,  prepared  by  Dr.  Eck, 
or  any  other  of  Luther's  opponents  ;  but  works  concerning  the 
Anabaptists,  written  by  their  bitterest  enemies,  are  received  by 
writers  of  almost  every  name  as  trustworthy  history.  Books  of 
this  character  are  cited  as  authorities  in  Anabaptist  history.  In 
his  As  to  Roger  Williams,  Dr.  Dexter  cites  a  number  of  works 
from  which,  as  he  tells  us,  the  early  settlers  of  Xew  England  de- 
rived their  prejudice  against  the  Anabaptists;  and  he  adds  for 
the  benefit  of  his  readers,  that  if  one  would  "  complete  his  know- 
ledge of  the  subject,"  he  would  do  well  to  consult  the  following 
works:  "  Catrou's  Histoire  des  Anabaptistes  taut  en  Allemagne, 
Hollande,  qiC  Angleterre,  etc.,  Paris,  1615;  J.  Gastius's  De 
Anabaptismi  exordio,  errorilntSjhistoriis  abominandis,  confuta- 
Uonibus  adjectis,  etc.,  Basilese,  1544;  Melancbthon's  Adversus 
Anabaptistas  judicium,  etc.,  J.  H.  Ottius's  Annales  Anabap- 
tistici,  hoc  est,  Historia  universalis  de  Anabaptistarum  origine, 
progressu,  factionibus,  et  schismatis,  etc.,  Basileae,  1672;  and 
Kerssenbrock's  Geschichte  der  Wiedertduffer  zu  Minster,  etc., 
1771/' l  Cornelius,  Professor  of  History  at  Munich,  in  a  thought- 
ful review  of  the  last  of  these  works,  says  that  Kerssenbrock 
knows  only  what  is  evil  of  the  Anabaptists,  and  only  what  is 

1  As  to  Ro(ja-  Williams,  113,  note  439. 

1*  U 


X  PEEFACE. 

good  of  their  opponents;1  while  of  the  other  works  that  Dr. 
Dexter  mentions,  it  should  be  said  that  they  were  all  written  by 
the  opponents  of  the  Anabaptists,  and  could  be  of  little  use  to 
one  who  desires  to  "complete"  his  knowledge  of  Anabaptist 
history. 

An  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  men  are  misled  by  these 
"  authorities"  we  have  in  the  supplementary  chapter,  which  is 
found  in  the  late  Dr.  J.  P.  Thompson's  "  Church  and  State." 
He  says .  "  The  Anabaptists  of  Germany  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury had  most  of  the  characteristic  features  of  Mormonism. 
They  claimed  to  be  inspired ;  they  refused  to  acknowledge  the 
civil  government ;  they  established  a  theocracy,  calling  Munster 
'  Mount  Zion ;'  they  collected  tithes  and  practiced  polygamy."  Dr. 
Howard  Osgood  at  once  called  Dr.  Thompson's  attention  to  the 
errors  into  which  he  had  fallen  in  this  statement,  saying :  "  I 
not  only  question  but  deny,  and  ask  for  some  plain  and  unim- 
peachable proof,  that  the  Anabaptists  of  the  Reformation  ever 
claimed  to  be  inspired  beyond  that  illumination  of  the  Spirit  now 
believed  by  all  evangelical  bodies ;  that  they  ever  refused  to 
acknowledge  the  civil  government ;  that  they  ever  established  a 
theocracy,  calling  Munster  "  Mount  Zion ;'  that  they  ever  col- 
lected tithes ;  that  they  ever  practiced  polygamy  or  community 
of  wives."  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  Dr.  Thompson  never  fur- 
nished the  plain  and  unimpeachable  proof  for  which  Dr.  Osgood 
called. 

It  should  also  be  remembered  that  of  those  who  at  the  time  of 
the  Reformation  were  called — and  by  many  are  still  called — 
Anabaptists,  some  neither  advocated  nor  practiced  Anabaptism  ; 
while  the  doctrinal  views  which  were  represented  among  them 

i  Die  Oeschichtsquellen  d.  Bisthums  Munster,  ii.  58. 


PREFACE.  XI 

belonged  to  widely  different  schools  of  religious  thought.  In 
other  words,  the  term  Anabaptist  was  contemptuously  bestowed 
on  all  those  who  were  opposed  to  the  union  of  Church  and  State, 
and  who  conscientiously  remained  outside  of  the  state-churches. 

To  the  history  of  the  Anabaptists  of  Switzerland  as  little  atten- 
tion has  been  given  as  to  that  of  the  Anabaptists  generally;  and, 
perhaps,  even  less.  The  Swiss  Anabaptists  had  a  part,  however' 
in  the  great  movement,  which,  as  Dorner  says,1  extended 
"  through  all  Germany ;  from  Swabia  and  Switzerland,  along 
the  Rhine  to  Holland  and  Friesland  ;  from  Bavaria,  Middle  Ger- 
many, Westphalia,  and  Saxony,  as  far  as  Holstein  ;"  and  though 
they  were  apparently  defeated,  the  story  of  their  heroic  sufferings 
should  be  faithfully  recorded. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  following  pages  I  have  used,  aside 
from  official  documents,  such  treatises,  doctrinal  statements,  con- 
fessions, hymns,  and  correspondence  of  the  Anabaptists  them- 
selves as  could  be  secured,  the  source  of  which  will  be  indicated 
in  the  notes.  I  have  also  found  exceedingly  helpful,  Zwingli's 
Werke,  Schuler  u.  Schulthess  Ed.  Zurich,  1828 ;  J.  C.  Fiisslin's 
Bey  tr  age  zur  Erlauterung  der  Kirchen-Reformations  Gcschich- 
ten  des  Schweitzer  Zandes,  Zurich,  1741;  5  Bande,  a  treasure- 
house  of  information  in  the  form  of  original  documents,  letters, 
etc. ;  also  his  Xeue  u.  unpartheyische  Kirchen  u.  Ketzerhistorie 
der  mittlem  Zeit,  Frankfurt  u.  Leipzig,  1770 ;  Kessler's  (Jo- 
hannes) Sabbata — diary  of  the  Zwinglian  pastor  at  St.  Gall  from 
1523-1539 — St.  Gallen,  1870;  H.  Bullinger's  Reformations  ge- 
schichte,  Ed.  Hottinger  u.  Vogeli,  Frauenfeld,  1838  ;  also  his  Der 
Widertoufferen  ur sprung, fur gang,  Secten,  wasen,  furnemen,  und 
gemeine  jrer  leer  Artickel,  etc.,  Zurich,  1561 ;  G.  Arnold's  un- 

1  Dorner  Geschichte  der  protestantischen  Theologie,  132. 


Xll  PREFACE. 

partheyische  Kirchen  u  Ketzer-Historien,  Schaffhausen,  1740; 
Oecolompadius',  Ein  gesprcch  etlicher  predicanten  zu  Basel, 
gehalten  mitt  etlichen  behenern  des  icidcrtouffs,  Basel,  1525  ; 
Handlung  oder  Acta  gehcdtner  Disputatio  und  Gepsrdch  zu 
Zoffingen  inn  Bernner  Bid  mit  den  Widertouffern,  Zurich,  1532 ; 
J.  J.  Hottinger's  Geschichte  d.  Eidgenossen  ivahrend  der  Zeiten 
d.  Kirchentrennung,  Zurich,  1829,  but  first  published  1708- 
1729;  G.  Walser's  Neue Appenzeller  Chronick,St.  Gallen,  1740; 
J.  A.  Starck's  Geschichte  d.  Taufe  und  Tuvfgesinnten,  Leipzig, 
1789. 

Of  more  recent  works  I  have  been  aided  by  the  following : 
H.  Schreiber's  Taschenbuch  fur  Geschichte  u.  Alterthum  in  Si'id- 
deutschland,  Freiburg,  1839-1840,  containing  a  valuable,  but 
unfinished,  sketch  of  Hubmeier  ;  J.  J.  Herzog's  Das  Leben  Jo- 
hannes Oekolampads  und  die  Reformation  der  Kirche  zu  Basel, 
Basel,  1843 ;  J.  C.  Zellweger's  Geschichte  d.  Appenzellischen 
Volkes,  St.  Gallen,  1850  ;  C.  F.  Jager's  Andreas  Bodenstein  von 
Carlstadt,  Stuttgart,  1856  ;  K.  Hagen's  Deutschlandsliterarische 
u.  religiose  Verhaltnisse  im  Eeformationszeitalter,  Frankfurt, 
1868.  Of  less  value  are  J.  Hast's  Geschichte  d.  Wiedertdufer, 
Miinster,  1836  ;  H.  W.  Erbkam's  Geschichte  d.  protestantischen 
Sekten  im  Zeitalter  der  Reformation,  Hamburg  u.  Gotha,  1848  ; 
and  Karl  Hase's  Neue  Propheten  (the  third  part  of  which  is  en- 
titled Das  Reich  der  Wiedertaufer),  Leipzig,  1861. 

The  most  valuable  of  recent  works  concerning  the  Swiss  Ana- 
baptists are  C.  A.  Cornelius'  Geschichte  des  Milnsterischen  Auf- 
ruhrs,  Leipzig,  of  which  the  first  volume  appeared  in  1855,  and 
the  second,  entitled  Die  Wiedertaufe,  in  1860  ;  and  Emil  Egli's 
Die  Zuricher  Wiedertdufer  zur  Reformationszeit,  Zurich,  1878, 
and  especially  his  Actensammlung  zur  Geschichte  der  Zlircher 
Reformation  in  den  Jahren,  1519-1533,  Zurich,  1879.    The  de- 


PREFACE.  XI 11 

sign  of  Cornelius'  masterly  work  is  to  show  from  a  Roman 
Catholic  point  of  view  that  all  reformation  of  the  church  must 
necessarily  lead  to  revolution,  and  "  Revolution/'  it  is  understood 
is  to  be  the  title  of  the  third  and  concluding  volume  which  is 
promised,  but  has  not  yet  appeared.  It  is  to  be  said  in  favor  of 
Cornelius,  however,  that  he  aims  to  be  impartial.  He  has  not 
only  gone  back  to  the  sources,  but  he  has  endeavored  to  use 
them  with  a  just  discrimination  in  reference  to  their  value.  His 
success  is  worthy  of  all  praise,  and  in  that  part  of  his  work 
which  he  has  already  published,  he  has  led  the  way  in  subjecting 
the  materials  of  the  history  of  the  Anabaptists  to  a  broader  and 
more  scholarly  treatment  than  they  have  hitherto  received  from 
Roman  Catholic  or  even  Protestant  writers. 

Egli,  too,  who  is  pastor  at  Aussersihl,  near  Zurich,  and  Privat- 
Docent  in  the  University  of  Zurich,  has  gone  back  to  the  sources, 
and  the  result  is  the  two  works  mentioned  above.  Had  his  Ac- 
tensammlung  fallen  into  my  hands  at  an  earlier  period  than  it  did, 
I  should  have  been  greatly  aided  in  my  work.  My  manuscript 
was  nearly  ready  for  the  press  before  I  was  aware  of  its  publica- 
tion. His  Z'dricher  Wiedcrtf infer  I  found  most  helpful,  and  I  am 
otherwise  indebted  to  him  for  kindly  assistance  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  my  work.  As  pastor  in  the  State  Church,  his  point  of 
view,  of  course,  is  not  one  of  sympathy  with  the  Anabaptists,  and 
in  some  places,  as  it  seems  to  me,  he  fails  to  do  them  justice ; 
but  he  is  so  far  in  advance  of  Swiss  writers  generally,  that  other 
than  words  of  the  highest  commendation  are  almost  out  of 
place.  His  Actemammlung  is  a  work  for  which  he  deserves  the 
thanks  of  all  students  of  the  history  of  the  Protestant  Reformation. 

Mention,  also,  should  be  made  of  Heberle's  Die  Anfange  des 
Anabapiismus  in  der  Sc/nceiz,  in  the  Jahrbiicher fur  Deutsche 
Theologie,  1858,  2te  Heft. ;  Keim's  Ludwig  Hetzer  in  the  Jahr- 


XIV  PREFACE. 

backer  fur  Deutsche  Theologie,  1856,  2te  Heft.;  Heberle's  Jo- 
liann  Denk  u.  die  Ausbreitung  seiner  Lehre,  in  the  Studien  u. 
Kritiken,  1855,  4te  Heft.,  and  Heberle's  Johann  Denk  u.  sein 
Biichlein  vom  Gesetz,  in  the  Studien  u.  Kritiken,  1851,  lste  Heft. 

Concerning  Thomas  Miinzers  relation  to  the  Swiss  Anabap- 
tists, little  is  to  be  learned  from  G.  T.  Strobel's  Leben,  Schriften, 
u.  Lehren  Ihoma  Muntzer,  Niirnberg,  1795,  and  Seidemann's 
Thomas  M'dnzer,  Dresden,  1842  ;  but  of  especial  value  is  Gre- 
bel's  letter  to  Munzer,  which  Cornelius  gives  in  full  in  the  ap- 
pendix to  the  second  volume  of  his  Geschichte  des  Milnsterischen 
Avfruhrs. 

Most  of  the  works  to  which  I  have  referred  are  in  my  own 
library.  Fiisslin's  Beytrdge  I  obtained  from  the  library  of  Cro- 
zer  Theological  Seminary,  a  favor  for  which  I  return  thanks  to 
the  courteous  librarian,  Dr.  Bliss.  To  Dr.  Howard  Osgood, 
of  Rochester  Theological  Seminary,  I  am  indebted  for  the  use  of 
Sehreiber's  Taschenbuch  fur  Geschichte  u.  Alterthum  in  Slid- 
deutschland  for  1840,  a  valuable  book,  but  as  rare  as  it  is  valua- 
ble ;  and  especially  for  manuscripts  of  Hubmeier  s  works  ;  also 
manuscripts  of  important  documents  in  reference  to  Hubmeier 
and  Hetzer.  Indeed,  Dr.  Osgood's  assistance  has  been  invalua- 
ble in  many  ways,  and  without  it,  I  should  early  have  abandoned 
my  task. 

That  I  have  only  imperfectly  performed  this  task  I  am  well 
aware.  It  is  my  hope,  however,  that  in  calling  attention  to  the 
history  of  the  Swiss  Anabaptists,  I  may  be  the  means  of  enlist- 
ing the  interest  of  others  in  this  hitherto  unfamiliar  department 
of  church  history,  and  so  at  length  of  securing  a  more  complete 
vindication  of  the  character  and  aims  of  these  Protestants  of  the 
Protestant  Reformation  in  Switzerland. 

Portland,  Me.,  May  6,  1881. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE. 

Switzerland    at    the    Opening    of    the    Sixteenth 

Century 17 


CHAPTER  II. 

zwingli   and   the    beginning    of    the    reformation 

in  Switzerland 40 


CHAPTER  III. 
Radical  Tendencies  in  some  of  Zwingli's  Associates       61 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Further  Development  of  these  Tendencies     ...       73 

CHAPTER  V. 
Anaijaptism  Instituted 93 


CHAPTER  VI. 
Rapid  Spread  of  Anabaptism 10'J 

XV 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VII.  page. 

Efforts  to  Stay  the  Progress  of  Ana-baptism.  .     .     121 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Fate  of  some  of  the  Leaders 147 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Statement  of  the  Gruningen  Anabaptists  and  Death 

of  Denk 177 

CHAPTER  X. 
Severer   Measures  Adopted  and  Death  of  Hetzer      188 

CHAPTER  XL 
The  Work  of  Extermination  Completed 203 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Conclusion 218 


THE  ANABAPTISTS 


SWITZEELAISTD 


OHAPTEE  I. 

SWITZERLAND    IN   THE    SIXTEENTH    CENTURY. 

AT  the  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  Swiss 
Confederation  comprised  thirteen  cantons.  Of 
these,  Schwytz,  Uri,  and  Unterwalden  formed  a 
league  as  early  as  1291.  This  league  was  renewed 
in  1305,  the  time  to  which  the  Tell-legend  is  as- 
signed, and  was  confirmed  as  a  perpetual  Confedera- 
tion in  1318,  after  the  decisive  battle  of  Morgarten, 
the  Thermopylae  of  Switzerland,  in  which  the  Aus- 
trians,  under  Duke  Leopold,  were  signally  defeated, 
and  the  Duke  narrowly  escaped  the  vengeance  of 
the  hardy  mountaineers  whom  he  had  contempt- 
uously assailed  in  their  rocky  fastnesses.  In  1332, 
Lucerne  joined  the  Confederation,  which  was  now 
known  as  the  Four  Forest  Cantons  (  Vierwaldst'dtte), 
a  name  which  is  still  preserved  in  that  of  the  beauti- 

17 


18  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

ful  lake  which  is  bounded  by  them,  and  is  known  as 
the  Lake  of  the  Four  Forest  Cantons  ( Vierwald- 
statter-See.) 

Zurich  was  added  to  the  Confederation  in  1351, 
Glarus  and  Zug  in  1352,  and  Berne  in  1353.  For 
more  than  one  hundred  years  after  the  admission  of 
Berne  no  other  cantons  were  received  into  the  Con- 
federation; and  until  the  close  of  the  last  century 
these  original  eight  cantons  enjoyed  many  privileges 
not  shared  by  the  later  members  of  the  Confedera- 
tion. 

In  1481,  Freiburg  and  Soleure  were  added.  In 
1498,  the  Emperor  Maximilian  endeavored  to  bring 
the  Confederation  under  the  power  of  the  Empire 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  aid  of  the  Swiss  in 
his  projected  advance  into  Italy.  But  the  Swiss  did 
not  favor  his  design,  and  in  the  war  that  followed, 
in  which  the  Tyrolese  subjects  of  Maximilian  and 
the  Swabian  League  bore  the  brunt,  the  Swiss  were 
victorious ;  and  in  the  following  year,  for  faithful 
service  during  the  war,  Basel  and  SchafFhausen  were 
added  to  the  Confederation.  They  were  followed  by 
Appenzell  in  1513.  Thus  at  the  opening  of  the 
sixteenth  century  Switzerland  was  a  free  country,  a 
Confederation  of  thirteen  Cantons  owing  allegiance 

1  The  number  was  not  increased  until  1798.  The  whole 
number  of  Cantons  at  the  present  time  is  twenty-two,  as  follows, 


SWITZERLAND   IN   THE   SIXTEENTH    CENTURY.     19 

neither  to  the  German  Empire  nor  to  individual 
lords.  Upon  the  banner  which  the  Confederates 
bore  was  inscribed  the  motto  :  "  Each  for  all,  and 
all  for  each." 

But  in  their  religious  affairs  the  free  spirit  of  the 
people  had  not  been  so  strikingly  illustrated.  It 
was  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventh  century  that 
the  first  efforts  were  made  to  convert  to  Christianity 
the  pagan  inhabitants  of  these  mountainous  wilds. 
Columban,  an  Irish  monk  from  the  monastery  of 
Bangor,  after  a  score  of  years  of  Christian  labor  in 
the  Frankish  Empire,  established  himself  in  610  in 
the  present  territory  of  Zurich,  near  Tuggen,  on 
the  Limmat,  in  the  hope  of  bringing  the  Allemani 
or  Suevi  of  that  region  under  the  power  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  But  his  efforts  were  in  vain. 
The  people  compelled  Columban  to  withdraw,  and 
with  his  companious  he  took  refuge  in  a  castle 
named  Arbon,  on  the  southern  shore  of  Lake 
Constance.  A  second  attempt  was  made  near  the 
ruins  of  an  ancient  castle,  known  as  Pregentia 
(Bregenz),  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  lake.  Here  a 
church  was  erected  and  missionary  labor  was  corn- 
Zurich,  Berne,  Lucerne,  Uri,  Schwytz,  Unterwalden,  Glarus, 
Zug,  Freiburg,  Soleure,  Basel,  Schaffhausen,  Appenzell,  St. 
Gall,  Grisons,  Aargau,  Thurgau,  Tessin,  Vaud,  Valais,  Neuchatel, 
Geneva. 


20  THE    ANABAPTISTS    IN    SWITZERLAND. 

menced.  But  the  hostile  pagans  at  length  drove 
Columban  from  this  place  also ;  and  in  613  he  made 
his  way  into  Italy,  where  he  founded  the  monastery 
of  Bobbio,  near  Pa  via. 

One  of  his  disciples,  however,  an  Irish  monk  by 
the  name  of  Gallus,  was  left  behind  on  account  of 
sickness.  After  his  recovery,  instead  of  following 
Columban  into  Italy,  he  resolved  to  make  an  added 
effort  for  the  conversion  of  the  Pagans,  whose  con- 
dition had  so  deeply  stirred  his  heart.  Leaving  the 
castle  at  Arbon  he  advanced  a  day's  journey  into 
the  wilderness,  and  came  to  a  spot  where  he  said, 
"  Here  will  I  abide."  Upon  that  spot  he  erected  a 
monastery,  which  subsequently  received  his  name, 
and  from  which  went  forth  the  missionaries  who  led 
the  ignorant  people  to  renounce  their  idol  worship, 
and  accept  the  Christian  faith.  Gallus  closed  his 
long  and  useful  life  in  640,  but  the  work  which  he 
had  commenced  was  carried  forward  by  his  disciples, 
who,  inspired  by  his  example,  established  other 
centres  of  religious  influence,  until  at  length  the 
whole  country  was  brought  under  the  dominion  of 
the  Eoman  Church.1 

This   hold   upon    these   hardy    mountaineers   the 

Eoman    Church    retained   at   the    opening   of    the 

sixteenth   century.     At  that   time,  however,  there 

1  Neander's  Hist.  Chrn.  Religion  and  Church,  vol.  iii.  pp.  29-37. 


SWITZERLAND    IN   THE   SIXTEENTH    CENTURY.      21 

were  influences  in  operation  that  soon  loosened  that 
hold  in  some  of  the  Cantons  of  Switzerland,  and 
prepared  the  way  for  the  Protestant  Reformation. 

Among  these,  first  of  all,  was  the  revival  of 
classical  learning.  Everywhere  the  students  in  the 
universities  caught  the  spirit  of  the  new  era,  and 
so  intense  was  the  interest  manifested  in  the  study 
of  the  humanities,  that  the  scholastic  philosophy 
and  theology  were  more  and  more  neglected.  The 
University  at  Basel,  which  was  founded  by  Pius  II, 
in  1459,  was  at  first  strongly  under  the  influence 
of  the  hierarchical  spirit;  but  in  this  revival  of 
classical  learning  the  authorities  of  the  University 
found  it  impossible  to  continue  strictly  in  the  old 
paths.  Instruction  in  the  Greek  language  and 
literature  was  given  by  Andronicus  Contoblikas,  a 
learned  Greek,  possibly  one  of  the  many  Greek 
scholars  who,  in  1453,  when  Constantinople  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Turks,  were  obliged  to  make  their 
way  to  other  lands.  In  1474,  Eeuchlin,  afterwards 
the  instructor  of  Melanchthon,  came  to  Basel.  He 
was  then  twenty  years  of  age,  and  with  enthusiasm, 
under  the  guidance  of  Contoblikas,  he  entered  upon 
the  study  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics.  Two 
years  later,  at  the  suggestion  of  Contoblikas, 
Reuchlin  began  to  give  instruction  in  Greek  and 
Latin  Grammar,  and  also  to  expound  some  of  the 


22  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN    SWITZERLAND. 

Greek  and  Latin  authors.  Crowds  of  students 
gathered  around  him,  and  the  interest  in  classical 
studies  was  greatly  increased.  It  was  not  long 
before  the  representatives  of  scholasticism  in  the 
University  assailed  Reuchlin,  charging  him,  in  giv- 
ing instruction  in  the  classical  languages  and 
literature,  with  undermining  Christianity.  Indeed, 
so  strong  was  the  hostility  which  was  manifested 
toward  Eeuchlin,  that  he  was  compelled  to  leave 
Basel  in  1479,  and  for  awhile  the  spirit  of  the  new 
era  was  excluded  from  the  University. 

In  1502,  however,  Thomas  Wittenbach  was  added 
to  the  faculty  of  the  University  as  professor  of 
theology.  He  had  studied  at  Tubingen,  and  un- 
derstood the  value  of  the  revival  of  classical 
learning  in  connection  with  his  department.  He 
was  accustomed  to  say  to  his  students  that  the  time 
was  not  far  distant  when  the  scholastic  theology 
would  be  set  aside,  and  the  old  teachings  of  the 
church,  as  laid  down  in  the  writings  of  the  church 
Fathers  and  in  the  Scriptures,  would  reappear.  In 
his  teaching  he  boldly  assailed  many  abuses  in  the 
administration  of  the  sacraments,  and  attacked 
indulgences.  Indeed,  on  one  occasion  in  a  public 
discussion,  he  defended  the  proposition  that  papal 
indulgences  have  no  value,  and  that  the  death  of 
Christ  is  the  only  adequate  ransom  for  the  sins  of 


SWITZERLAND    IN   THE   SIXTEENTH    CENTURY.      23 

men.  Zwingli,  who  in  1502  came  to  Basel  as  a 
teacher  of  the  classics  in  St.  Thomas  parish  school, 
became  interested  in  the  new  professor,  and  learned 
from  him  lessons  which,  at  a  later  period,  bore  such 
abundant  fruit  in  his  reformatory  work. 

But  of  unspeakable  importance  to  the  new  move- 
ment in  Switzerland  was  the  presence  at  Basel  of 
Erasmus,  who  came  thither  in  1514,  at  the  height 
of  his  splendid  fame,  in  order  to  carry  through  the 
press  the  first  edition  of  the  Greek  New  Testament. 
The  friends  of  classical  learning  at  once  gathered 
around  him.     His  frequent  references  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, as  the  foundation    to   which   theology  must 
return,  attracted  to  him  the  most  distinguished  of 
the  theologians  in  Basel,  among  them  Dr.  Ludwig 
Ber,  who  confessed  with  sorrow  that  he  had  wasted 
so  much  of   his   strength  in   scholastic  instead  of 
biblical  studies,  and  commenced  at  once  to  make 
himself  familiar  with  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  lan- 
guages.    Capito,  who  in   1515   was  appointed  pro- 
fessor of  theology  in  the  University,  and  soon  after 
was  made  rector,  also  came  under  the  influence  of 
Erasmus,  and  in  his  exegetical  lectures  directed  his 
students  to  the  Scriptures  as  the  source  of  divine 
knowledge.1 

The  press  greatly  aided  in  the  new  movement. 

1  Herzog,  Das  Leben  Johannes  Oekolampads,  Bd.  i.  80. 


24  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

Among  the  first  books  published  in  Basel  were  the 
Latin  Vulgate,  and  the  writings  of  the  scholastic 
theologians,  Peter  Lombard,  Thomas  Aquinas,  and 
others.  The  philosophical  works  of  Aristotle, 
Petrarch,  and  Eeuchlin  followed.  A  Hebrew  gram- 
mar, by  Pellican,  was  printed  in  1503.  Later,  in 
1516,  from  the  press  of  the  celebrated  publisher 
Froben,  appeared  the  edition  of  the  Greek  Testa- 
ment which  Erasmus  had  prepared,  and  which 
could  not  fail  among  the  learned  to  direct  the  minds 
of  those  who  were  in  search  of  the  truth  to  the 
inspired  word  of  God. 

But  while  these  influences  were  such  as  to  loosen 
the  hold  which  the  Papal  Church  had  upon  a  people 
over  which  it  had  long  exercised  an  almost  imperial 
sway,  .other  influences  were  even  more  potent  in 
effecting  this  result.  In  the  fifteenth  century  Swiss 
soldiers,  who  had  learned  the  arts  of  war  and 
proved  their  valor  in  the  long  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence in  which  they  had  been  engaged,  were 
hired  to  fight  the  battles  of  the  Pope  upon  the 
plains  of  Italy.  In  these  campaigns  they  were 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  corruptions  which  at 
that  time  characterized  the  Papacy,  alike  in  head 
and  members ;  and  on  their  return  to  their  native 
mountain  valleys,  they  brought  with  them,  not  only 
such  proverbs  as,  "  The  nearer  Pome,  the  worse  the 


SWITZERLAND   IN   THE   SIXTEENTH   CENTURY.      2-3 

Christian,"  and  "  He  who  goes  to  Rome  should  leave 
his  religion  behind  him/'  but  also  such  reports  of 
the  notorious  profligacy  of  those  who  occupied  the 
highest  positions  in  the  Roman  See  as  could  not  but 
lessen  the  reverence  of  the  people  for  those  whose 
spiritual  rule  they  had  so  long  acknowledged.1 

Nor  was  the  character  of  the  Swiss  clergy  such 
as  to  make  these  reports  in  any  way  seem  im- 
probable.    Some  of  the  parish  priests  were  Italians, 

1  Hottinger,  Geschichte  der  Eidgenossen,  lste  Abth.  s.  240.  In 
a  note  addressed  to  his  Nuncio  at  the  Diet  of  Nuremberg  in 
1522,  Pope  Adrian  VI.  said  :  "  We  know  that  in  this  holy  See 
much  corruption  has  continued  to  abound  during  many  years, 
great  abuse  in  all  ecclesiastical  affairs,  as  likewise  in  all  that  has 
emanated  from  our  chair,  and,  in  one  word,  a  defamation  in 
everything.  Hence  it  is  no  wonder  if  the  disease  has  transferred 
itself  from  the  head  to  the  other  members — from  the  Pope  to  the 
priests ;  therefore  we  promise,  as  far  as  in  us  lies,  to  devote  all 
our  attention  and  care  towards  reforming,  first  of  all  our  chair, 
whence  perhaps  all  this  evil  has  originated,  in  order  that  as  the 
destruction  has  issued  thence  to  descend  to  the  inferior  grades, 
the  care  and  renewed  enjoyment  of  health  may  likewise  find 
their  source  there.'' 

Cardinal  Bellarmin  bears  this  testimony :  "  Annis  aliquot 
antequam  Lutherana  et  Calvinistica  hreresis  orietur,  nulla  ferme 
erat,  ut  ii  testantur,  qui  etiam  tunc  vivebant,  nulla  (inquam) 
prope  erat  in  judiciis  ecclesiasticis  severitas,  nulla  in  moribus 
disciplina,  nulla  in  sacris  litteris  eruditio,  nulla  in  rebus  divinis 
reverentia,  nulla  propemodum  jam  erat  religio."  Op.  T.  vi. 
296.  Ed.  Col.  1617. 
2 


26  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

favorites  of  Roman  ecclesiastics,  soldiers  of  the 
Papal  guard  even,  who  had  been  assigned  to  posi- 
tions in  the  churches  of  Switzerland  for  the  sake  of 
the  revenue  which  these  positions  afforded.  The 
immorality  of  these  foreigners  was  as  conspicuous 
as  their  cupidity.  Among  the  native  parish  priests, 
also,  a  low  state  of  morals  seems  to  have  been  the 
rule.  Zwingli,  in  1522,  with  some  of  his  friends, 
addressed  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Constance,  and 
another  to  the  chief  officials  in  the  Confederation, 
asking  permission  for  priests  to  marry.  In  the 
latter  he  said  :  "  Your  lordships  have  seen  already 
how  shameful  have  been  our  relations  with  women — 
for  we  will  speak  only  of  ourselves — how  these  have 
been  the  scandal   and  disgrace  of  many."1     Of  the 

1  Alzog,  Universal  Church  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  93,  says  of 
Zwingli:  "  In  1522,  he  demanded  from  Hugo  Landenberg,  Bishop 
of  Constance,  in  his  own  name  a  general  permission  for  priests  to 
take  wives  :  '  Your  lordship,'  he  candidly  said,  '  very  well  knows 
how  disgraceful  have  been  my  relations  heretofore  with  females 
(for  I  would  speak  only  of  myself),  how  these  have  been  the 
scandal  and  ruin  of  many.'  "  But  Zwingli  did  not  write  in  his 
own  name  merely  (see  Werke,  Schuler  u.  Schulthess,  i.  30).  I 
have  not  seen  a  copy  of  this  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Constance, 
and  do  not  know  that  it  has  been  preserved,  but  the  letter  being 
a  joint  letter  he  must  have  used  the  first  personplural,  as  in  the 
letter  to  the  prominent  officials  of  the  Confederation,  from  which 
I  have  quoted  above.  It  is  but  just,  however,  to  add,  that  the 
statement  would  have  been   true  if   Zwingli  had   written   the 


SWITZERLAND   IN   THE   SIXTEENTH    CENTURY.      27 

ten l  who  joined  Zwingli  in  this  appeal  three  had 
already  been  married  without  the  sanction  of  the 
church,  and  were  living,  as  was  the  case  with  many 
other  parish  priests,  with  their  wives  in  open  viola- 
tion of  the  rule  of  the  Eoman  Church.  It  was  the 
custom  of  the  Bishop  of  Constance  to  absolve  these 
priests  on  the  payment  of  a  fine  of  four  guldens  for 
every  child  born  to  them.  In  1522,  he  increased 
this  fine  from  four  to  five  guldens,  and  his  revenue 
from  this  source  alone  is  said  to  have  been  7,500 
guldens.2 

Indeed,  the  bishops,  for  the  most  part,  were  more 
intent  on  securing  the  perishable  possessions  of 
earth  than  the  everlasting  treasures  of  heaven. 
They  mingled  in  political  affairs,  and  the  duties 
which  they  owed  to  foreign  princes  and  to  the 
Confederation  not  unfrequently  clashed.     Indeed,  so 

letter  in  his  own  name.  Indeed,  from  Zwingli's  earlier  history 
(see  Opera,  vii.  54  sq.  and  Morikofer,  Ulrich  Zwingli  i.  50-52) 
we  have  an  illustration  of  the  low  state  of  morals  among  the 
Swiss  clergy. 

1  These  were  Balthasar  Trachsel,  pastor  at  Art ;  George 
Stahelin,  pastor  at  Meiningen,  hitherto  Zwingli's  assistant ; 
Werner  Steiner,  of  Zug  ;  Leo  Jud,  pastor  at  Einsiedeln  ;  Erasmus 
Schmid,  canon  at  ^urich  ;  Simon  Stumpf,  pastor  at  Hongg ;  Jost 
Kilchmeyer,  canon  at  Lucerne ;  Ulrich  Pfister,  pastor  at  Uster  ; 
Caspar  Grossman,  hospital  preacher  at  Zurich  ;  John  Schmid, 
chaplain  at  Zurich. 

2  Hottinger,  Geschichte  der  Eidgenossen  lste  Abth.  s.  248. 


28  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

accustomed  were  the  people  to  see  these  dignitaries 
of  the  church  censured  at  the  Diet,  slain  in  the 
field,  and  banished  from  the  land  as  disturbers  of 
the  peace,  that  public  opinion  in  reference  to  the 
sanctity  and  inviolability  of  their  office  was  greatly 
diminished.1 

For  letters  they  cared  but  little,  and  this  indif- 
ference was  even  greater  on  the  part  of  the  lower 
clergy.      The   canons  of   the   collegiate   church   at 
Zurich,  in  forwarding  a  report  to  the  Bishop  of  Con- 
stance, said,  as  a  reason  why  they  themselves  did 
not  prepare  the  document,  that  some  of  them  were 
unable  to  write.2     Bullinger  says  that  at  a  meeting 
of  all  the  deans  in  Switzerland.it  was  ascertained 
that  not  more  than  three  could  be  found,  who  were 
familiar  with  the  Bible.     The  others  freely  confessed 
that  they  had  read  only  the  New  Testament  :3    with 
the  rest  of  the  clergy  the  case  was  still  worse.     The 
ignorance  of  many  of  the  parish  priests  extended  to 
the  most  elementary  branches  of  education.     They 
gave  little  attention  to  study,  but  devoted  themselves 
chiefly  to  social  pleasures.     Of  the  clergy  in  the  Va- 
lais,  only  one  was  found  who  had  heard  of  the  Bible. 

A  yet  darker  picture  is  presented  when  we  turn  to 

1  Hottinger,  Geschichte  der  Eidgenossen,  lste  Abth.  s.  244-246. 

Planta,  History  of  the  Helvetic  Confederacy ,  vol.  ii.  p.  122. 
3  Bullinger,  Rcformationsgeschichte,  Bd.  i.  s.  3. 


SWITZERLAND   IN   THE   SIXTEENTH    CENTURY.      29 

the  numerous  religious  houses  which  in  the  preceding 
centuries  had  been  established  here  and  there  within 
the  limits  of  the  Confederation.  Not  one  of  these 
preserved  its  ancient  reputation  for  good  morals  and 
sound  learning.  In  all  of  them  there  was  not  a  man 
to  be  found  who,  in  the  impending  conflict  between 
the  Papacy  and  the  Reform  party,  could  exert  any 
influence  whatever.  Zurich,  early  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  passed  an  order  rebuking  the  immoralities 
of  the  monks,  and  forbidding  their  idling  about  the 
city,  and  especially  in  the  nunneries.  In  Basel  the 
Augustinians  were  in  bad  repute,  while  at  Interlaken, 
at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  it  was  found 
necessary  to  introduce  monks  from  abroad,  in  order 
to  improve  the  reputation  of  the  brotherhood,  while 
the  nunnery  was  closed  as  if  beyond  improvement.1 
The  abbot  Twinkler,  of  Cappel,  expended  vast  sums  of 
money  for  the  maintenance  of  his  love  of  display, 
and  the  concealment  of  his  impure  life  :  and  he  was 
at  length  deprived  of  his  office  as  a  wretched  econo- 
mist and  a  despot.  In  Wettingen  the  abbot,  John 
Miiller,  craved  the  help  of  the  Confederation,  saying 
that  he  and  his  subordinates  needed  speedy  reforma- 
tion, not  only  for  the  salvation  of  their  order,  but  of 
their  own  souls.  A  letter  of  the  abbot,  John  of 
Craux,  written  in  1514,  explains  the  decline  of  the 

1  Hottinger,  Geschichte  der  Eidgenossen,  1st  Abth.  s.  258. 


30  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

t 

monasteries  on  the  ground  of  the  immoral  life  of  the 
monks,  and  the -neglect  of  visitation.  The  nunne- 
ries were  as  little  the  abode  of  purity  as  the  monas- 
teries. A  visitor  to  some  of  these  nunneries  said  of 
that  at  Frauenthal :  "  I  detest  these  nuns,  and  would 
not  like  to  say  what  others  tell  me.  Would  that 
they  were  virtuous,  faithful,  honorable.  They  have 
desired  my  services  as  an  inspector,  because  they 
know  I  am  simple  and  easily  deceived."  At  the 
nunnery  at  G-ottstadt  the  nuns  were  so  faithless  to 
their  vows  that  the  government  of  Berne  removed 
the  immoral  abbess.1 

It  was  this  state  of  things,  long  continued,  which 
aided  in  preparing  the  way  for  a  revolt  against  the 
papal  rule  in  Switzerland.  There  were  two  events, 
however,  which  occurred  early  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury that  greatly  aided  in  hastening  this  result.  One 
of  these  was  the  attempt  which  was  made  by  the 
Dominicans  in  Berne,  in  1506,  to  impose  upon  the 
credulity  of  the  people  by  a  pretended  miracle.  At 
that  time  the  Dominicans  were  not  on  friendly  terms 
with  the  Franciscans  on  account  of  a  difference  of 
opinion  in  reference  to  the  dogma  of  the  immaculate 
conception,  the  Franciscans  affirming,  the  Dominicans 
denying,  this  dogma.  The  popular  feeling  was  with 
the  Franciscans,  and  in  consequence  their  revenues 

Hottinger,  Geschichte  der  Eidgenossen,  1st  Abth.  8.  259-261. 


SWITZERLAND    IN   THE   SIXTEENTH    CENTURY.      31 

far  exceeded  those  of  their  jealous  rivals.  This  was 
not  a  pleasing  thought  to  the  Dominicans ;  and  act- 
ing upon  the  principle  that  the  end  justifies  the 
means,  some  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  brother- 
hood, including  the  prior,  conceived  a  plan,  by  which 
they  hoped  to  draw  the  attention  of  the  community 
from  the  Franciscans  to  themselves. 

John  Jetzer,  of  Zurzach,  a  weak-minded  tailor,  had 
asked  to  be  received  into  the  monastery  as  a  lay 
brother.  His  request  had  hitherto  been  denied  ;  but 
as  it  was  now  thought  that  he  could  be  of  service  in 
the  execution  of  the  proposed  plan,  he  was  admitted 
to  the  brotherhood,  and  became  an  inmate  of  the 
monastery  in  Berne.  The  prior  and  his  accomplices 
began  at  once  to  fill  Jetzer 's  mind  with  terrors.  One 
of  the  number,  representing  a  soul  from  purgatory, 
appeared  to  the  lay-brother  in  his  cell,  and  asked  his 
aid  in  securing  deliverance  from  painful  imprison- 
ment. Subsequently,  also  at  night,  Jetzer  received 
a  visit  from  the  Virgin  Mary,  who  bestowed  upon 
him  three  of  the  Saviour's  tears,  as  many  drops  of  his 
blood,  and  a  letter  addressed  to  Pope  Julius  IL,  who, 
it  was  said,  had  been  selected  to  abolish  the  festival 
of  the  immaculate  conception.  To  the  bewildered 
mind  of  the  lay -brother  these  were  tokens  of  distin- 
guished favor,  but  he  was  told  that  far  greater  honors 
were  in  store  for  him;    and  the  pretended  Virgin, 


32  THE   ANABArTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

approaching  Jetzer 's  bed  in  order  to  make  upon  his 
body  the  five  wounds  of  the  Saviour,  the  distinguish- 
ing marks  of  a  saint,  took  his  hand  and  pierced  it 
with  a  sharp  nail.  Jetzer  shrieked  and  made  so 
much  disturbance  that  the  completion  of  the  work 
was  necessarily  postponed.  On  the  following  night  a 
soporific  was  administered  to  him,  and  he  soon  had 
the  full  number  of  wounds  with  which  St.  Francis  and 
other  saints  had  been  honored.  As  he  awoke  from 
his  stupor  the  monks  crowded  around  him,  looked 
upon  the  miraculous  wounds,  and  greeted  Jetzer  as 
highly  favored  of  heaven.  Then  they  bore  him  to  a 
large  room  in  the  monastery  which  was  hung  with 
pictures  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ.  Gazing  upon 
these  vivid  representations,  Jetzer  became  excited  to 
a  still  greater  degree.  He  wrung  his  hands  as  if  he 
were  in  the  agonies  of  Gethsemane,  bowed  his  head 
as  if  oppressed  by  the  crown  of  thorns,  and  sank  to 
the  floor  as  one  overpowered  in  the  conflict  of  death. 
At  times  the  monks  threw  open  the  doors,  and  the 
people,  attracted  by  reports  of  the  miracle,  crowded 
the  monastery,  and  gazed  upon  the  wonderful  specta- 
cle which  Jetzer  presented.  "  See,"  they  said,  "  he 
is  suffering  the  Cross  of  Christ ;  "  while  the  monks 
called  the  attention  of  the  astonished  multitude  to 
the  favor  thus  shown  to  the  Dominican  order. 

The  Franciscans  were  greatly  humiliated  by  this 


SWITZERLAND   IN   THE   SIXTEENTH    CENTURY.        66 

triumph  of  their  rivals ;  and  thus  far  the  Domini- 
can plot  was  a  glorious  success.  But  ■  the  triumph 
of  the  Dominicans  was  of  brief  duration.  The  im- 
posture was  detected  by  the  credulous  Jetzer.  The 
Virgin  again  manifested  herself  to  him,  and  in  her 
voice  Jetzer  recognized  the  voice  of  his  confessor. 
On  the  following  night  the  prior  took  the  confessor's 
place,  and  he,  too,  was  detected ;  also  the  sub-prior 
in  the  role  of  Catharine  of  Sienna.  The  monks, 
unwilling  to  lose  their  hold  upon  Jetzer,  made  addi- 
tional efforts  to  deceive  him  ;  but  skilful  as  they  were 
in  their  endeavors,  Jetzer's  suspicions  were  now 
aroused,  and  he  at  length  was  satisfied  that  he  had 
been  imposed  upon  as  before.  The  monks  now 
sought  to  get  rid  of  him  by  means  of  poison,  but 
Jetzer  discovered  the  plot,  and  having  made  his  es- 
cape from  the  monastery,  he  revealed  the  facts  con- 
cerning the  pretended  miracle.  In  an  investigation 
that  followed  Jetzer  was  subjected  to  the  rack,  but 
he  told  the  same  story  as  before  :  and  the  four  monks 
who  had  been  most  conspicuous  in  the  affair,  having 
been  convicted  of  fraud,  were  sentenced  to  death 
and  were  burned  at  the  stake  May  1,  1509,  in  the 
presence  of  thirty  thousand  spectators.1 

The  history  of  this  affair,  in  numberless  editions, 

1  Hottinger,  Geschichte  der  Eidgenossen,  1st  Abth.  s.  271-280. 
Planta,  Hist.  Helvetic  Confederacy,  ii,  124. 

2* 


34  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

and  in  many  languages,  was  scattered  throughout 
Switzerland,  and  had  a  powerful  influence  in  calling 
the  attention  of  the  common  people  to  the  character 
of  the  monks,  and  in  preparing  the  way  for  the  great 
uprising  against  the  Roman  Church  that  so  soon  fol- 
lowed. 

An  event  of  even  greater  importance  in  securing 
this  result,  however,  was  the  appearance  of  Bernard 
Samson,  a  Franciscan  monk,  who  in  August,  1518, 
entered  Switzerland  as  Apostolic  Commissary  Gene- 
ral, having  been  empowered  by  the  Pope  to  sell  with- 
in the  limits  of  the  Swiss  Cantons,  at  fixed  prices, 
plenary  indulgences  for  all  manner  of  offences.  With 
this  traffic  Samson  was  already  familiar,  having  from 
his  sale  of  indulgences  under  two  previous  popes, 
added  hundreds  of  thousands  of  ducats  to  the  papal 
treasury.  Full  of  Italian  pride,  and  bent  on  plun- 
dering the  people,  he  crossed  the  Alps  by  the  St. 
Gothard  pass,  and  commenced  the  sale  of  his  wares 
in  XIri.  Among  the  poor  mountaineers  of  this  Can- 
ton he  made  only  a  brief  halt,  and  then  pushed  on 
to  Schwytz. 

At  that  time  Zwingli  was  pastor  and  preacher  of 
the  church  of  the  Hermitage  at  Einsiedeln,  having 
been  called  to  this  place  from  Glarus  in  1516.  At 
Einsiedeln  there  was  a  famous  abbey,  over  whose  gate 
were  the  words,  "  Here  a  plenary  remission  of  sins 


SWITZERLAND   IN   THE   SIXTEENTH   CENTURY.      35 

may  be  obtained  ;  "  and  already,  during  his  residence 
in  the  place,  Zwingli's  heart  had  been  stirred  by  the 
sight  of  the  crowds  of  pilgrims  who  made  their  way 
to  the  abbey  allured  by  the  promises  of  the  monks. 
Light  had  dawned  upon  his  own  soul,  and  he  spoke 
brave  words  to  the  people  who  had  been  so  grossly 
misled.  But  now  his  heart  was  even  more  deeply 
moved,  and  with  fiery  energy  he  denounced  the 
traffic  in  which  Samson  was  engaged.  "  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Son  of  God,"  he  exclaimed,  "has  said,  'Come 
unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  -and  are  heavy  laden,  and 
I  will  give  you  rest.'  Is  it  not,  then,  most  presump- 
tuous folly  and  senseless  temerity  to  declare  on  the 
contrary :  '  Buy  letters  of  indulgence,  hasten  to  Rome, 
give  to  the  monks,  sacrifice  to  the  priests,  and  if  thou 
doest  these  things  I  absolve  thee  from  thy  sins '? 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  only  oblation,  the  only  sacrifice, 
the  only  way !  " 

Zwingli's  warning  voice  penetrated  the  mountain 
valleys  of  Schwytz,  and  Samson  was  compelled  to 
move  on.  Late  in  September  he  appeared  in  Zug, 
where  a  great  crowd  of  poor  people,  responding  to  the 
call  of  Samson's  heralds,  pressed  around  the  Papal 
Commission.  "  Let  those  first  come  who  have  gold," 
cried  one  of  Samson's  attendants:  "the  rest  will  re- 
ceive attention  afterwards."  For  three  days  Samson 
remained  in  Zug.    At  times  the  throng  was  so  great 


36  THE  ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

that  many  could  not  get  near  the  cross  where  the 
indulgences  were  sold.      Passing  through   Lucerne 
and  Unterwalden,  meeting  with  increasing  success  in 
his  mission,  Samson  came  at  length  to  Berne.      At 
first  he  was  not  permitted  to  enter  the  city,  but 
through  the  efforts  of  some  of  his  friends  the  refusal 
was  at  length  withdrawn,  and  he  opened  the  sale  of 
his  wares  in  St.  Vincent's  Church.     To  the  poor  he 
sold  indulgences  on  paper  for  three  cents.     For  the 
same  thing  on  vellum  the  rich  paid  a  crown.     To 
absolve  themselves  from  greater  sins  some  paid  hun- 
dreds of  ducats.      A  celebrated  warrior,  Jacob  de 
Stein,  by  the  present  of  the  grey  steed  which  he  rode 
obtained  an  indulgence  for  himself,  his  five  hundred 
troopers,  and  all  his  vassals  in  the  seigniory  of  Eealp. 
On  the  last  Sunday  of  his  stay  in  Berne,  at  a  service 
in  the  church,  Samson  cried  out,  "All  those  who 
kneel  down  and  offer  a  short  prayer  shall  be  as  pure 
as  immediately  after  baptism  ;  "  and  as  all  kneeled 
he  added,  "  I  deliver  from  the  torments  of  purgatory 
and  of  hell,   all  the  souls  of  deceased  Bernese,  no 
matter  when,  where,  or  how  they  died." 

In  Aargau,  Samson  found  that,  on  account  of  his 
failure  to  have  his  credentials  approved,  the  Bishop 
of  Constance  had  ordered  his  clergy  not  to  receive 
him.  In  Baden,  he  held  mass  in  the  church.  After- 
ward, while  accompanying  a  procession   through  the 


SWITZERLAND    IN   THE   SIXTEENTH    CENTURY.      37 

churchyard,  he  cried  out,  as  if  he  saw  already  the 
souls  of  the  dead  released  from  purgatory,  "  Look, 
see  them  fly ! "  One  of  the  crowd  mounted  the  tower 
to  the  belfry,  and  throwing  out  of  the  window  a  lot 
of  old  feathers  he  shouted,  "  Look,  see  them  fly !  " 
and  Samson,  followed  by  the  derision  of  the  multi- 
tude, left  the  place. 

He  next  appeared  at  Bremgarten,  and  was  wel- 
comed by  the  magistrate,  and  one  of  his  preachers 
who  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  Samson  at  Baden. 
But  Henry  Bullinger,  the  pastor  and  dean  of  the 
church,  and  the  father  of  the  well-known  historian, 
refused  to  recognize  Samson.    When  the  latter  showed 
his  letters  from  the  Pope,  Bullinger  replied  that  he 
could  not  open  his  church  to  him  upon  these  letters, 
as  they  had  not  been  approved  by  the  Bishop  of  Con- 
stance.    "  The  Pope  is  above  the  Bishop/'  said  Sam- 
son :  "  therefore  it  is  in  the  highest  degree  fitting  in 
you  not  to  deprive  your  flock  of  so  great  grace." 
But  Bullinger  could  not  be  intimidated.     "I  will  not 
grant  your  request,"  he  said,  "  if  it  costs  me  my  life." 
Samson  was  in  a  rage,  and  cried  out,  "  Brute,  inas- 
much as  you  put  yourself  in  opposition  to  the  Pope, 
I  pronounce  against  you  the  greater  excommunica- 
tion, and  I  will  not  absolve  you  until  you  have  atoned 
for  your  rashness  by  the  payment  of  three  hundred 
ducats."     Bullinger,   as  he  was  leaving  the  room, 


38  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

said,  "  I  know  what  I  have  done,  and  will  answer  for 
it  where  it  is  fitting.  I  care  nothing  for  you  and 
your  excommunication."  "  Impudent  brute ! "  shouted 
Samson,  "I  am  going  soon  to  Zurich,  and  I  will 
complain  of  you  there  to  the  deputies  of  the  Canton." 
Bullinger  turned  and  defiantly  added,  "  You  will  find 
that  I  have  preceded  you." 

Zwingli,  who  in  December,  1518,  had  been  trans- 
ferred from  Einsiedeln  to  the  Cathedral  in  Zurich, 
was  informed  of  Samson's  purpose  as  revealed  in  his 
threat  to  Bullinger,  and  attacked  indulgences  even 
more  vehemently  than  at  Einsiedeln.  "  No  man," 
he  said,  "  can  remit  sins.  Christ,  who  is  very  God 
and  very  man,  alone  has  this  power."  Samson  was 
told  that  Zwingli  was  preaching  against  indulgences. 
"  I  am  aware,"  he  said,  "  that  Zwingli  will  speak 
against  me,  but  I  will  stop  his  mouth." 

Bullinger  was  as  good  as  his  word,  and  reached 
Zurich  in  advance  of  the  enraged  Samson.  On  his 
arrival — it  was  late  in  February,  1519— he  had  a 
consultation  with  Zwingli  and  the  principal  men  in 
the  city,  and  the  result  was  that  when  Samson  ar- 
rived in  the  suburbs  of  Zurich  a  few  days  after,  he 
was  informed  by  the  deputies  of  the  Canton  that  his 
presence  was  not  desired  there.  Claiming  that  he 
had  a  message  to  communicate  to  the  Diet  in  the 
name  of  the  Pope,  the  monk  was  finally  permitted  to 


SWITZERLAND    IN   THE   SIXTEENTH   CENTURY.     39 

anter  the  city ;  but  when  it  was  found  that  his  plea 
was  a  false  one  he  was  told  that  he  must  withdraw 
his  bann  of  excommunication  against  the  Dean  of 
Bremgarten,  and  leave  the  Canton.  Not  long  after, 
Samson  recrossed  the  St.  Grothard,  bearing  with  him 
the  silver  and  gold  he  had  plundered  from  the  Swiss, 
and  he  and  his  shameful  traffic,  thanks  to  the  firm- 
ness of  Zwingli  and  his  friends,  were  heard  of  no 
more.1 

The  popular  feeling  thus  awakened  was  increased 
by  the  publication  of  Luther's  tract  on  Indulgences, 
which  with  other  tracts  of  the  German  Reformer  was 
published  by  Froben,  in  Basel,  in  1519,  and  widely 
scattered  among  the  Swiss  people.  Not  only,  there- 
fore, in  the  ever- widening  circle  of  scholars  who  had 
caught  the  breath  of  the  new  era,  but  also  among  the 
common  people,  voices  were  now  heard  denouncing 
the  tyranny  and  extortion  of  immoral  ecclesiastics, 
and  calling  for  the  correction  of  abuses  which  already 
had  been  too  long  endured. 

1  Hottinger,  Geschichte  der  Eidgenossen,  1st  Abth.  s.  287—292. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ZWINGLI   AND  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  REFORMATION 
IN  SWITZERLAND. 

In  entering  upon  his  labors  in  the  Cathedral  at 
Zurich,  Zwingli  commenced  an  exposition  of  Mat- 
thew's Gospel.  "  The  history  of  Jesus,"  he  said  to 
the  canons  of  the  Cathedral,  "  has  been  too  long  kept 
out  of  the  public  view.  It  is  my  purpose  to  lecture 
on  the  whole  of  the  Gospel  according  to  Matthew, 
drawing  from  the  fountains  of  Scripture  alone,  sound- 
ing all  its  depths,  comparing  text  with  text,  and  put- 
ting up  earnest  and  increasing  prayers  that  I  may  be 
permitted  to  discover  what  is  the  mind  of  the  Holy 
Spirit."  Crowds  nocked  to  listen  to  these  expositions, 
and  as  the  people  retired  from  the  Cathedral  they 
said  one  to  another,  "  We  never  heard  the  like 
before." 

In  the  following  August,  "  the  great  death,"  as  the 
plague  was  called,  visited  Zurich.  At  that  time 
Zwingli  was  at  Bad  PfafFers,  near  Ragatz,  where  he 
had  sought  needed  relaxation.  On  receiving  the  sad 
intelligence  he  hastened  to  Zurich  to  minister  to  the 
40 


Z  WING  LI   AND   THE    REFORMATION.  41 

necessities  of  his  people.  While  thus  engaged  he 
was  himself  seized  by  the  dreadful  scourge,  and  at 
length  it  was  reported  that  he  was  dead.  "Alas  !  " 
exclaimed  Hedio, 1  then  a  preacher  in  Basel,  "  the 
deliverer  of  our  country,  the  trumpet  of  the  gospel, 
the  magnanimous  herald  of  truth,  is  stricken  with 
death  in  the  flower  and  springtide  of  his  age."  But 
life  was  not  extinct.  Zwingli  had  only  approached 
the  gates  of  death  :  and  when  it  was  known  that  his 
recovery  was  assured,  there  was  devout  thanksgiving, 
not  only  on  the  part  of  the  Reformer's  friends  in 
Zurich,  but  also  on  the  part  of  the  friends  of  reform 
throughout  Switzerland.  The  tidings  were  brought 
to  Basel  by  a  student  from  Lucerne.  John  Faber,  the 
Vicar  of  the  Bishop  of  Constance,  subsequently  Zwin- 
gli's  most  determined  opponent,  wrote  to  him  :  "  Oh, 
my  beloved  Ulrich,  what  joy  I  feel  at  learning  that 
you  have  been  saved  from  the  grasp  of  cruel  death  ! 
When  you  are  in  danger  the  Christian  commonwealth 
is  threatened.  The  Lord  has  been  pleased  to  urge 
you  by  these  trials  to  seek  more  earnestly  eternal 

1  Hedio  was  a  native  of  Eslingen,  in  Baden.  He  was  educa- 
ted at  Freiburg  and  Basel.  At  Basel  he  came  more  and  more 
under  the  influence  of  Capito.  As  preacher  at  St.  Theodore's  and 
afterwards  at  St.  Martin's,  he  proclaimed  with  increasing  boldness 
evangelical  truth.  He  was  later  a  coadjutor  of  Bucer  and  Capito 
in  Strasburg,  where  he  died  in  1552. 


42  THE   ANABAPTISTS    IN    SWITZERLAND. 

life."  When  at  length  Zwingli  again  appeared  in  the 
Cathedral  pulpit,  and  resumed  his  exposition  of  the 
Scriptures,  ever  increasing  crowds  greeted  him,  and 
welcomed  his  words  as  glad  tidings  of  great  joy. 

Great  was  the  outcry  of  the  priests  and  monks  at 
the  progress  of  the  new  movement.  They  vehemently 
defended  indulgences,  and  threatened  to  close  Zwin- 
gli's  mouth.  Said  one  of  the  monks,  "  He  who  med- 
dles with  Greek  is  a  Lutheran,  and  the  man  who 
gives  himself  up  to  Hebrew  is  a  Jew."  Another  said 
that  the  theology  of  Dun  Scotushad  accomplished  more 
for  Christianity  than  the  Apostle  Paul.  Still  another 
uttered  a  curse  on  the  book  publishers  who  were  send- 
ing out  all  kinds  of  books  without  consulting  the 
Pope  and  without  fear  of  the  Inquisition.  Capito,  in 
a  letter  written  at  Basel  in  April,  1520,  says,  "  The 
cause  advances  continually.  The  theologians  and 
monks  labor  for  us.  They  utter  severe  threats 
against  Luther,  but  his  principles  have  already  pene- 
trated so  deep  that  no  power  of  theirs  can  destroy 
them."  At  this  time,  in  order  to  accept  an  appoint- 
ment at  the  court  of  the  Archbishop  of  Mayence, 
Capito  removed  from  Basel.  This  was  a  temporary 
check  to  the  new  movement.  But  in  the  following 
year,  with  the  appearance  in  Basel  of  William  Reub- 
lin  from  Eottenburg  on  the  Neckar,  the  reform 
spirit  was  revived.     Reublin  was  appointed  pastor  at 


ZWINGLI    AND   THE    REFORMATION.  4d 

St.  Albans.  There  he  interpreted  the  Scriptures  in 
a  masterly  manner,  '  and  so  great  was  the  interest 
which  his  sermons  awakened,  that  his  hearers  were 
numbered  by  thousands.  The  Romanists  were 
alarmed,  and  denounced  Reublin  to  the  bishop  as  a 
heretic,  and  the  bishop  asked  the  Council  for  his  re- 
moval. The  people  protested,  insisting  that  Reublin 
preached  nothing  that  was  not  sustained  by  the 
Scriptures.  But  the  members  of  the  Council  were 
not  ready  to  break  with  the  Church  of  Rome,  and 
Reublin  was  ordered  to  leave  Basel.  All  who  had 
supported  him  were  denounced  as  heretics,  and  the 
line  between  the  Romanists  and  the  Reformers  in  that 
city  was  more  clearly  drawn. 

But  in  Zurich,  where  Zwingli  was  continually 
growing  in  popular  favor,  there  was  progress  in  the 
reform  movement.  In  the  year  1520,  the  Council 
issued  an  order  directing  all  pastors  and  preachers 
throughout  the  Canton  to  declare  the  pure  word  of 
God.  In  the  same  year,  the  deputies  of  the  Confede- 
ration enacted  a  statute  in  which  foreign  priests  who 
had  bought  ecclesiastical  positions  in  Switzerland,  or 
had  been  assigned  to  such  positions  through  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Pope  or  any  of  his  subordinates,  were 
forbidden  to  remain  within  the  limits  of  the  Confede- 

1  Herzog,  Das  Leben  J.  Oekolampads,  BJ.  i,  91. 


44  THE   ANABAPTISTS    IN   SWITZERLAND. 

ration. l  Only  gradually,  however,  did  Zwingli 
break  with  the  Church  of  Rome.  In  1521,  he  first 
assailed  the  Pope  ;  shortly  after  he  attacked  the  rules 
concerning  the  church  fasts ;  and  a  little  later  he 
uncovered  the  evils  connected  with  the  celibacy  of 
the  clergy. 

Among  those  who  were  attracted  to  Zwingli  by 
these  earnest  efforts  in  behalf  of  church  reform,  and 
the  glowing  fervor  of  his  evangelical  spirit  was  Con- 
rad Grebel,  2  a  son  of  Jacob  Grebel,  3  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  men  in  Zurich,  and  a  member  of 

1  Bullinger,  Heformationsgeschichte.  i.  32. 

a  The  facts  in  reference  to  Grebel's  earlier  years  are  to  be  ob- 
tained from  MSS.  in  the  library  at  St.  Gall,  and  from  copies  in 
the  similar  collection  of  MSS.  in  the  library  at  Zurich.  For  a 
summary  see  Hottinger,  Oeschichte  d.  Eidgenossen  i,  464-466. 

3  Hottinger,  Geschichte  d.  Bid.  i,  464,  note  101,  says  he  seems 
to  have  been  one  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  members  of  the 
Council.  Besides  Conrad,  he  had  a  son  Leopold,  who  was 
with  Conrad  at  the  University  of  Vienna,  and  subsequently  en- 
tered the  service  of  the  Archduke  Ferdinand  ;  also  a  daughter, 
Agathe,  (in  a  letter  to  Vadian  dated  July  15, 1520,  Conrad  calls 
her  Euphrosyne,  possibly  a  cloister  name)  who  was  prioress  ot 
Oedenbach  ;  and  a  second  daughter,  Martha,  who  became  the 
wife  of  Vadian.  Morikofer,  in  his  life  of  Zwingli  (Leipzig  1867) 
says  that  there  were  four  daughters,  of  whom  Martha  was 
the  eldest.  Oct.  30,  1526,  Jacob  Grebel  was  beheaded  at  Zurich 
for  receiving,  in  the  name  of  his  son,  money  from  foreign  princes, 
especially  from  the  King  of  France,  contrary  to  law.  His  family 
position  and  connection    availed  nothing.     Bernhard  Weisen,  in 


ZWINGLI   AND   THE   KEFORMATION.  45 

the  Zurich  Council.  The  year  of  Conrad's  birth  is 
unknown,  but  it  was  in  the  last  decade  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  In  1515,  we  find  him  at  the  University  of 
Vienna,  where  he  received  pecuniary  assistance  from 
the  Emperor  Maximilian  I.  In  the  summer  of 
1518,  with  his  distinguished  instructor  and  brother- 
in-law,  Dr.  Joachim  von  Watt l  of  St.  Gall,  (better 

his  Beschrcibung  der  Olaubens  Aenderung  in  dem  Schweitzer  land 
[Fiisslin  Bey tr age  etc.,  iv,  71  ]  says  :  "  In  152G,  on  Tuesday  before 
All  Saints,  Oct.  30,  Jacob  Grebel,  a  member  of  the  Zurich  Coun- 
cil, was  beheaded  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  He  had  a 
heavy  snow-white  beard,  and  snow-white  hair,  for  he  was  more 
than  sixty  years  of  age."  Bullinger,  (Reformationsgeschichte 
i,  373),  says  many  lamented  his  death,  for  he  was  otherwise  an 
honorable  and  highly  esteemed  man.  See  also  Zwingli's  Werke 
1,568,  note.  Concerning  the  results  of  Jacob  Grebel's  trial.  (See 
Hottinger,  Geschichte  d.  Eidgenossen.  ii.  453-456.) 

1  Dr.  Joachim  von   Watt  belonged  to  a   wealthy  family  in  St- 
Gall.  He  was  born  December  31, 1484.  In  1502,  leaving  the  cloister 
school  of  his  native  town,  he  made  his  way  to  Vienna,  where,  in 
the  University,  he  devoted  himself  to  scientific  studies,  and    later 
to  medicine.     It  was  at  this  time  that  he  made  the  acquaintance 
of  Zwingli,  with  whom  he  continued  a  warm  friend,  until  Zwin- 
gli's death.  He  was  at  length  made  a  professor  in  the  University, 
and  afterwards   its  rector  and  vice-chancellor.      On   his  return 
to  his  native  town  in  1518,  he  was  received  with   distinguished 
consideration.     In  1520,  he  was  made  a  member  of  the  Council, 
and  in   1526,  he  was  made  Burgomaster.     He  was  the  personal 
friend  of  the  prominent  Reformers,  and  was  in   constant  corres- 
pondence with   them.     Zwingli   said  he  knew  not  his   like   in 
Switzerland.     He  died  April  6,  1551. 


46  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

known  as  Vadian,  from  his  Latin  name  Vadianus), 
Grebel  returned  to  Switzerland.  But  he  remained 
at  home  only  a  short  time,  and  then  made  his  way  to 
Paris,  in  order  to  avail  himself  of  the  instruction  of 
Glarean,  a  Swiss  scholar,  who  had  achieved  distinc- 
tion at  the  French  capital,  especially  in  the  depart- 
ment of  mathematics.  Under  his  direction  Grebel 
for  awhile  devoted  himself  to  classical  and  scientific 
studies.  But  by  reason  of  his  father's  withholding  the 
stipend  which  the  French  King,  Francis  I,  had 
granted  to  him,  he  was  soon  brought  into  financial 
straits,  so  that  he  left  Glarean  in  the  spring  of  1519. 
Later,  on  account  of  the  pest  which  was  raging  in 
Paris,  Grebel  withdrew  to  Melun,  where  he  spent  the 
remainder  of  the  year,  returning  to  Paris  about  the 
first  of  January  1520.  Of  late,  it  seems,  he  had  not 
been  free  from  the  excesses  of  a  wild  student  life. 
These  increased  his  financial  embarrassments.  Mean- 
while his  appeals  to  his  father  for  aid  only  brought 
back  threatening  letters,  which  with  his  unhappy 
position  greatly  embittered  the  heart  of  the  proud- 
spirited young  scholar.  In  a  letter  to  Vadian,  October, 
6,  1519,  he  gives  expression  to  a  feeling  of  degrada- 
tion because  of  his  enforced  dependence  upon  foreign 
bounty ;  and  says  that  if  his  father  had  taught  him 
to  live  at  a  moderate  expense  with  money  of  his  own 
earning,  according  to  the   Swiss  custom,  he  would 


ZWINGLI   AND   THE    REFORMATION.  47 

have  been  spared  the  taunts  of  his  associates,  and  the 
answering  blush  of  shame. l 

Early  in  July,  1520,  Grebel  returned  to  Zurich. 
From  his  parents,  doubtless,  through  the  kind  offices 
of  his  brother-in-law,  Vadian,  he  received  an  affec- 
tionate welcome,  and  past  differences  were  allowed  to 
be  forgotten  on  both  sides.  During  his  student-life, 
in  Vienna,  Grebel  had  corresponded  with  Zwingli, 
and  the  acquaintance  was  now  renewed.  He  also 
spent  not  a  little  of  his  time  at  St.  Gall,  with  Vadian. 
In  August,  1521,  he  was  in  Basel,  and  there  he  re- 
mained several  months  in  the  society  of  the  Reform- 
ers and  engaged  in  literary  work.2  In  December 
he  was  again  in  Zurich,  and  not  long  after  he  con- 
tracted a  marriage,  in  which,  on  account  of  the  bride's 
social  position,  he  further  incurred  the  disapprobation 
of  his  parents. 

Heberle  3  says  it  was  this  love  affair  that  drew 
Grebel  to  Basel.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  however, 
that  notwithstanding  this  ill-advised  marriage  as  his 
parents  thought,  Grebel  still  retained  the  affectionate 
regard  of  Vadian.     It  was   at  this  time,  also,  that 

1  Jahrbllcher  far  Deutsche  Thcologie,  2te,  Heft.  s.  227. 

2  Ursin  writes  to  Vadian,  from  Basel,  October  1,  1521  :  "  DecL 
hoc  negotii  Grebelio  adolescenti  omnibus  modis  egregio,  atque  in 
omnes  mire  officioso." 

3  Tahrbucherfiir  Deutsche  Thcologie,  1858,  2te    Heft.  s.  228,  229. 


48  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN    SWITZERLAND. 

Grebel  became  intimately  associated  with  Zwingii  in 
the  great  work  upon  which  the  Zurich  Reformer  had 
now  so  earnestly  entered.  His  accession  to  the  re- 
form party  was  the  occasion  of  devout  thanksgiving. 
Grebel  was  not  a  theologian,  it  is  true,  but  he  pos- 
sessed talents  of  a  very  high  order,  had  long  enjoyed 
the  best  educational  advantages  at  the  principal  cen- 
tres of  intellectual  life,  was  familiar  with  the  ancient 
languages,  and  withal  was  a  man  of  noble  impulses 
and  a  consuming  zeal.1  Nothing  is  clearer  than 
at  this  time  Zwingii  held  Grebel  in  the  highest  esti- 
mation. Writing  to  his  friend  Myconius,  at  Lucerne, 
August  26,  1522,2  referring  to  certain  eandidissimos 
et  doctissimos  adolescentes,  he  mentions  Grebel  first. 
His  future  he  could  not  but  regard  as  one  of  rapidly 
brightening  promise ;  and  possibly  he  was  animated 
by  the  hope  that  in  Grebel  he  would  find  one  who 

1  "  Wohl  war  er  von  Natur  fur  sanftere  und  edlere  Empfind- 
ungen  geschaffen,  und  wie  sehr  sein  Herz  der  Hingebung  und 
Ehrerbietung  fahig  gewesen,  beweist  nichts  deutlicher  als  die  aus- 
dauernde  und  vaterliche  Liebe,  welcher  Vadian  den  Jungling 
werth  gehalten  hat."  (Cornelius,  Geschichte  Des  Munsterischen 
Aufruhrs.  ii.  19.)  Heberle,  Jahrb'dcherf.  Deutsche  Theologie,  1858, 
2te  Heft.  s.  230  says  :  '•  Unstreitig  war  Grebel  ein  Jungling  von 
reicher  Begabung  und  einer  fur  sein  Alter  nicht  gewolmlichen 
Gelehrsamkeit,  zugleich  wusste  er  sich  durch  grosse  Gef'alligkeit 
bei  seinen  Bekannten  zu  empfehlen." 
2  Zwingii,  Opera  vii.  s.  218. 


ZWINGLI   AND   THE    REFORMATION.  49 

would   yet   be   to   him   what   Melanchthon    was  to 
Luther. 

Grebel  at  once  took  a  prominent  position  in  the 
Zurich  movement  for  church  reform.  Macrinus,  in  a 
letter  to  Zwingli,  dated  October  15,  1522,  asks  him  to 
salute  Grebel,  adding,  "  I  hear  he  has  become  a  dis- 
tinguished patron  of  the  gospel."1  In  fact,  Grebel 
even  went  beyond  Zwingli  in  his  assaults  upon  the 
church  party.  The  monks,  especially,  complained 
bitterly  of  the  treatment  which  they  received  in  their 
discussions  with  him ;  and  the  Zurich  magistrates, 
unwilling  to  defend  Grebel's  severe  denunciations, 
summoned  him  before  them,  as  early  as  July  7,  1522, 
and  admonished  him  to  restrain  his  zeal,  and  to  avoid 
further  collisions  of  this  kind. 2  A  like  admonition 
was  received  at  the  same  time  by  Nicholas  Hottinger, 
Henry  Aberli  and  Bartholomew  Baur,  all  laymen,  of 
whom  as  associates  of  Grebel  we  shall  hear  more  at 
a  later  period. 

In  two  other  of  Zwingli's  associates  somewhat  of 
the  same  spirit  was  soon  manifested,  especially  in  the 
matter  of  church  fasts.  One  of  these  was  William 
Reublin,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  was  compelled  to  leave 
Basel  on  account  of  his  bold  advocacy  of   reform. 

1  Zwingli,  Opera  vii.  s.  232. 

2  Ftisslin,  Beytrage,  iv.  s.  39. 

3 


50  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN    SWITZERLAND. 

On  leaving  Basel  he  at  once  made  his  way  to  Zurich, 
was  kindly  received  by  Zwingli,  and  through  his  in- 
fluence was  soon  established  as  pastor  in  the  neigh- 
boring village  of  Wytikon.1  The  other  was  Simon 
Stumpf,  a  Franciscan  by  birth.  As  early  as  1519 
he  was  in  correspondence  with  Zwingli.  Afterward 
he  was  engaged  in  circulating  Luther's  writings  in 
Switzerland.  Near  the  close  of  1522  he  also  made 
his  way  from  Basel  to  Zurich,  and  shortly  after  he 
received  an  appointment  as  pastor  at  Hongg,  a  vil- 
lage in  the  vicinity  of  Zurich. 

Zwingli  seems  to  have  made  no  effort  to  check 
these  radical  tendencies.  Indeed  the  principle  he  had 
adopted,  namely  to  reject  in  doctrine  and  practice 
whatever  the  Scriptures  do  not  enjoin — the  opposite 

i  Here  he  married  April  28,  1523,  and  his  was  the  first  public 
wedding  of  a  priest  in  Switzerland.  Other  priests  had  been  se- 
cretly married,  and  two  years  before  John  Haller,  pastor  at 
Arnsoldingen,  had  married,  but  the  ceremony  was  performed  at 
Zurich  so  as  to  excite  little  attention.  Hottinger,  Geschichte  d. 
Eidgenossen,  i.  s.  379,  says  :  "  In  uppigem  Baumgartenunter  den 
Bluthen  und  dem  Hauche  des  Fruhlings  wurde  seit  Hunderten 
von  Jahren  wieder  die  erste  Hochzeit  eines  Schweizerischen 
Geistlichen  gefeiert."  Bernard  Weiss,  Fiisslin  Beytrage  iv.  s.  45, 
says,  "  Wie  wol  die  Braut  in  jungfraulichen  Kleidern  und  Zierden 
bekleidet  war,  und  wie  man  so  in  einem  hubschen  Baumgarten, 
daalleB'aume  vol  Blust  waren,  zimbiss  ass,  ware  lang  zu  schrei- 
ben." 


ZWINGLI   AND   THE   REFORMATION.  51 

of  the  principle  which  was  adopted  by  Luther,  who 
would  retain  whatever  is  not  contrary  to  the  Scrip- 
tures—was favorable  to  the  development  of  these 
tendencies.  This  principle  Zwingli  made  very  pro- 
minent in  the  discussion  which  he  held  with  the  old 
church  party,  January  29, 1523,  known  as  the  First 
Zurich  Discussion.  It  was  a  notable  assembly. 
Prelates  and  nobles,  learned  doctors  from  the  uni- 
versities, parish  priests,  and  men  of  high  station  in 
civil  life— six  hundred  in  number— crowded  the 
Council  Hall  in  Zurich.  So  weak,  however,  as  yet 
was  the  cause  of  the  Reformation  in  Switzerland,  that 
from  the  other  Cantons  no  one  was  present  except 
Sebastian  Hofmeister,  who  represented  Schaffhausen. 
CEcolampadius,  who  had  recently  taken  up  his  resi- 
dence in  Basel,  and  had  expressed  to  Zwingli  his 
sympathy  with  the  reform  movement,  would  have  been 
present  had  not  a  letter  from  Zwingli  reached  him  too 
late. 

The  burgomaster,  Max  Roust,  presided,  and  at  the 
outset  stated  the  object  of  the  assembly.  Complaints, 
he  said,  had  been  made  in  reference  to  Zwingli's 
teaching  and  preaching.  By  some  he  was  called  a 
heretic ;  by  others  he  was  charged  with  misleading 
the  people.  Zwingli  had  often  expressed  a  desire  to 
defend  himself  against  these  accusations  in  a  public 
assembly,  and  therefore  the  Council  had  appointed 


52  THE    ANABA.PTIST3    IN    SWITZERLAND. 

this  meeting  in  which  any  one  was  at  liberty  to  state 
his  objections  to  Zwingli's  position. 

Up  rose  Fritz  von  Anwyl,  Grand  Master  of  the 
Episcopal  Court  at  Constance,  who  said  that  the 
Bishop  of  Constance  was  represented  in  the  assembly 
by  Dr.  Bergenhaus,  the  Vicar-General  Faber;  and 
Dr.  Martin  Blanche  of  Tubingen. 

Zwingli  was  sitting  at  a  table  on  which  he  had 
placed  copies  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  Hebrew,  Greek, 
and  Latin  tongues.  All  eyes  were  now  turned  to- 
ward him  as  he  stood  up  to  address  the  assembly. 
In  all  ages,  he  said,  God  had  manifested  himself  as  an 
almighty,  faithful  Father.  But  his  creatures,  follow- 
ing the  devices  of  their  own  hearts,  had  departed 
from  him.  God,  however,  had  been  merciful,  and 
given  to  them  the  light  of  his  word.  u  But  in  our 
time  that  light  has  been  darkened.  Men  confess 
Christ  with  the  mouth,  but  their  hearts  are  far  from 
him.  What  is  needed  is  the  pure  gospel,  and  though," 
he  added,  "  for  five  years  I  have  preached  in  Zurich 
the  holy  gospel,  the  glad  tidings  of  Christ,  the  divine 
Scriptures,  not  with  man's  wisdom  but  in  demonstra- 
tion of  the  Spirit,  yet  by  many  I  am  denounced 
as  a  heretic,  a  liar,  a  seducer."  On  this  account  he 
had  asked  the  Council  to  call  an  assembly ;  and  that 
all  might  know  what  his  teachings  were  he  had  pre- 
pared certain  theses  which  he  was  ready  to  defend. 


ZWINGLI  AND  THE  REFORMATION.       53 

He  closed  with  these  words :  "  Now,  then,  in  the 
name  of  God,  here  I  stand." 

Dr.  Faber,  as  the  representative  of  the  Bishop  of 
Constance,  then  took  the  floor.  "  I  am  not  come,  "  ho 
said,  "  to  oppose  evangelical  or  apostolic  doctrine,  but 
to  listen,  and  in  case  of  differences  to  aid  in  establish- 
ing harmony.  But  if  there  are  those  who  wish  to 
have  a  discussion,  it  must  be  elsewhere,  in  a  General 
Council,  or  a  Council  of  bishops  and  learned  men  of 
the  Universities.  The  Bishop  of  Constance  has  been 
informed  that  a  General  Council  will  be  held  at 
Nuremberg  within  a  year.  The  questions  to  be  dis- 
cussed should  be  brought,  too,  before  the  Universi- 
ties at  Paris,  Cologne,  or  Freiburg."  There  was  laugh- 
ter at  this  remark,  and  Zwingli  interrupting  asked, 
"  Why  not  Erfurt,  or  Wittenberg  ?  "  Faber  an- 
swered, "  Luther  would  be  too  near,"  and  he  added, 
"  '  ab  aquilone  panditur  omne  malum  !  '  But,  as  I 
have  already  said,"  he  continued,  "  I  am  here  to  listen 
not  to  discuss  ;  "  and  he  sat  down. 

Zwingli  again  took  the  floor.  "  We  are  told,"  he 
said,  "  to  bring;  these  matters  before  a  General  Coun- 
cil,  or  a  Council  of  bishops.  To  that  I  reply,  Here 
in  this  room  is  a  Christian  Council.  Indeed,  the  Sa- 
viour says,  *  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  in  my 
name  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them.'  But  the 
Vicar-General  asks, '  Where  are  the  judges  ?  '     Here, 


64  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  cannot  lie.  We  have 
the  same  in  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin.  In  this  city 
of  Zurich,  God  be  praised,  we  have  more  men  learned 
in  these  languages  than  in  any  one  of  the  Universi- 
ties mentioned  by  the  Vicar.  Yes,  in  this  room  there 
are  Christian  hearts  so  enlightened  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  that  they  can  tell  who  is  in  agreement  with  the 
Scriptures ;  "  and  turning  to  his  Zurich  friends  he 
said,  "  Call  on  God  with  humble  hearts.  He  will  not 
deny  you  divine  assistance." 

There  was  a  great  stillness  in  the  hall  as  Zwingli 
sat  down,  and  as  no  one  rose  to  speak,  the  burgomas- 
ter at  length  broke  the  silence,  saying,  "  If  there  is 
any  one  who  has  anything  to  say,  let  him  step  for- 
ward."    But  no  one  responded  to  the  invitation. 

Zwingli  then  again  arose,  and  said, "  For  the 
truth's  sake  I  ask  those  here  who  have  found'  fault 
with  my  preaching  to  state  their  objections.  If  they 
do  not,  I  will  call  them  out  by  name.  I  trust,  how- 
ever, that  of  their  own  accord  they  will  rise  and  state 
the  grounds  of  the  charge  that  I  am  a  heretic."  But 
no  one  rose. 

Some  one  rose  near  the  door  and  cried  out,  "Where 
are  now  those,  fellows  who  in  the  streets  talk  so  boldly? 
There  is  Zwingli ;  you  can  talk  behind  his  back,  but 
not  to  his  face  ;"  and  again  there  was  laughter. 

A  second  and  third  time  Zwingli  asked  those  who 


ZWINGLI  AND  THE    REFORMATION.  55 

had  called  him  a  heretic  to  appear  against  him  ;  but 
still  there  was  no  response  to  his  challenge.  Then 
he  called  upon  Jacob  Wagner,  Pastor  at  Neftenbach, 
(a  village  between  Schaffhausen  and  Winterthur), 
who  referred  to  a  mandate  issued  by  the  Bishop  of 
Constance  during  the  year  against  evangelical  preach- 
ing, and  also  to  the  arrest  of  the  pastor  at  Fislisbach 
(a  village  between  Baden  and  Mellingen),  who  had 
been  thrown  into  prison  at  Constance  for  disobeying 
the  mandate.  "  He  is  our  brother,"  said  Wagner, 
"and  I  wish  to  know  what  attitude  I  am  to  take  in 
reference  to  this  mandate." 

The  Vicar-General,  in  reply,  said  that  he  was  not 
at  Constance  when  the  mandate  was  issued,  but  un- 
doubtedly it  was  intended  to  promote  the  peace  of  the 
diocese.  As  to  the  Pastor  of  Fislisbach,  he  was  a 
good,  simple-hearted  man,  unlearned  and  not  a  gram- 
marian. In  an  interview,  Faber  had  proved  to  him 
that  the  invocation  of  saints  is  scriptural,  and  the 
pastor  had  retracted  his  errors. 

Zwingli  then  arose  and  addressed  the  Vicar-Gene- 
ral :  "  Show  us,"  he  said, "  the  place  in  the  Scriptures 
where  it  is  written  that  we  are  to  invoke  the  saints 
as  our  advocates  ?  Here  are  Bibles  in  Hebrew, 
Greek,  and  Latin.  If  there  are  such  passages,  I  will 
also  retract  with  the  imprisoned  pastor,  and  in  my 
ignorance  seek  instruction." 


56  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

"  I  have  already  said,"  answered  Faber,  "  that  I 
am  not  here  to  discuss;  but  in  reply  to  what  Zwingli 
says,  I  will  add,  that  in  past  centuries  there  have 
been  heretics,  Novatians,  Montanists,  Sabellians, 
Ebionites,  etc.,  who  have  rejected  the  invocation  of 
saints,  purgatory,  etc.  But  Councils  and  Popes  have 
condemned  them,  and  it  seems  strange  that  any  one 
should  regard  their  teachings  with  disfavor."  As  to 
Zwingli's  appeal  to  the  Scriptures,  he  thought  that 
interpretation  was  no  slight  gift  of  God.  He  himself 
was  not  acquainted  with  Hebrew,  had  only  a  little 
knowledge  of  Greek,  but  understood  Latin  pretty 
well.  It  is  not  enough,  however,  to  be  able  to  read 
the  Scriptures,  but  one  must  understand  aright  what 
he  reads. 

Zwingli  in  his  reply  said  there  was  no  need  of 
smooth  words.  He  would  like  to  know  with  what 
passages  of  Scripture  the  Vicar-General  had  silenced 
the  imprisoned  pastor  at  Constance,  and  secured  his 
retraction.  "  Show  us  the  chapter  in  which  the  invo- 
cation and  intercession  of  saints  are  taught.  We 
will  then  look  at  it,  and  see  if  the  doctrine  is  there." 
Faber  did  not  deign  to  reply,  but,  referring  to 
Councils,  he  remarked  that  they  had  never  sanctioned 
the  marriage  of  priests.  Zwingli  considered  the 
Scriptural  testimony  on  this  point,  and  referred  to 
times  in  the  history  of  the  Church  when  the  marriage 


ZWINGLI  AND  THE  REFORMATION.  57 

of  the  priests  had  been  allowed.  The  Vicar-General 
replied,  "  Not  since  the  time  of  Tertullian,  also  the 
Council  of  Nicaea,  therefore,  not  for  1200  years." 
Thereupon  one  of  the  Council  replied  :  "  But  they 
have  been  allowed  mistresses."  This  remark  dis- 
turbed the  Vicar-General,  and  he  soon  sat  down. 

After  a  few  more  words  from  Zwingli,  Dr.  Sebas- 
tion  Hofmeister,  of  Schaffhausen,  said  he  had  been 
driven  from  Lucerne  on  the  charge  of  heresy,  be- 
cause he  had  preached  against  the  invocation  and 
intercession  of  saints.  He  also,  would  like  to  have 
the  Vicar-General  give  the  passages  from  the  word 
of  God  with  which  he  had  won  his  victory  over  the  im- 
prisoned pastor  at  Constance. 

But  Faber  would  not  give  his  Scripture  proof. 
"  Whatever  others  may  say  or  believe,"  he  said,  "  I 
believe  firmly  in  the  intercession  of  the  mother  of 
God.     Others  may  believe  what  they  will." 

"  Sir,"  replied  Zwingli,  "  our  inquiry  is  not  how 
we  may  invoke  the  saints,  or  what  is  your  belief. 
We  simply  wish  you  to  show  us  the  Scripture  pas- 
sages, as  we  have  asked  again  and  again/' 

Still  the  Vicar-General  was  silent.     Then  Leo  Jud 

arose.     He  said  he  had  been  called  to  St.  Peter's 

Church  in  Zurich,  and  in  his  preaching  should  teach 

that  Christians  should  call  upon  Christ.     Accordingly 

he  wished  to  know  if  he  was  in  error.     "  Show  us  the 

3* 


58  THE   ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

place,"  he  exclaimed,  "  where  it  is  written  that  we  are 
to  invoke  the  saints." 

"  Must  I  fight  against  two  ?  "  said  Faber.  "  That 
were  difficult  for  the  strong  Hercules,  as  the  proverb 
goes.     My  dear  sir,  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  you." 

"  But  I  have  to  do  with  you,"  answered  Leo. 

"  I  do  not  know  you,"  said  Faber. 

Zwingli  interrupted,  and  reminded  the  Vicar-Gene- 
ral that  the  passages  in  reference  to  the  invocation  of 
saints  were  in  order. 

Faber  first  appealed  to  the  litany  and  canons  of 
the  church.  He  then  quoted  Luke  1:  42,  "  Blessed 
art  thou  among  women."  But  Zwingle  reminded  him 
that  the  question  was  not  in  reference  to  the  sanctity 
and  honor  of  Mary,  but  concerning  invocation,  inter- 
cession.    Faber  made  no  reply  and  sat  down. 

Dr.  Martin  Blanche  of  Tubingen  then  arose. 
What  had  been  ordained  by  the  Councils,  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  said,  should  be  re- 
garded by  the  Christian  church  as  the  Gospels;  for 
their  Councils  thus  guided  cannot  err.  Christ  himself 
says,  "  Who  hears  you  hears  me."  And  yet  it  is 
said  that  the  invocation  of  saints,  a  custom  observed 
by  Christians  for  many  hundred  years,  is  not  founded 
upon  the  Scriptures  ! 

Zwingli,  in  reply,  reminded  the  learned  Doctor 
that  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  show  that  the  Coun- 


ZWINGLT  AND  THE   REFORMATION.  59 

cils  have  erred.  Evangelical  truth  we  are  to  hold, 
but  what  is  aside  from  that,  whether  ordained  by 
popes  or  Councils,  is  not  binding. 

At  the  afternoon  session,  the  Council  declared  that 
inasmuch  as  no  one  had  shown  that  Zwingli  was  a 
heretic  he  should  be  allowed  to  teach  the  Scriptures 
according  to  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  that  all  the  other 
pastors  and  preachers  in  the  Canton  should  preach 
only  what  was  in  accordance  with  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. "  God  be  praised,"  said  Zwingli,  "  who  will 
cause  his  word  to  rule  in  heaven  and  on  earth."  Fa- 
ber  could  not  restrain  his  rage.  "  Gentlemen,"  he 
cried  out,  "  the  theses  of  Zwingli  seem  to  me  to  be 
wholly  contrary  to  the  honor  of  the  church,  and  the 
divine  teachings  of  Christ :  and  I  will  prove  it." 
"  That  do,"  added  Zwingli.     "  We  will  gladly  listen." 

"  We  learn  from  Luke  9  :  50,"  said  Faber,  "  that  he 
who  is  not  against  us  is  for  us.  Fasts,  confession, 
the  mass,  etc.,  are  not  against  God,  but  for  his  honor, 
and  therefore  they  are  not  to  be  despised  and  re- 
jected." 

"  But  are  not  these  customs  of  the  church  against 
God  ?  "  said  Zwingli.  "  God  is  best  pleased  with  our 
obedience  to  his  commands.  He  honors  God  who 
keeps  his  word,  and  lives  according  to  his  will." 

The  Vicar- General  at  length  said  that  at  one  of  the 
Universities,  Paris,  Cologne,  or  Freiburg,  as  Zwingli 


60  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

might  chose,  he  would  prove  Zwingli's  theses  to  be 
false.  Zwingle  replied  that  he  was  ready  to  meet  his 
opponent  anywhere,  but  he  would  have  no  judge  but 
the  Scriptures.  "  But,"  said  Dr.  Martin  Blanche, 
"  you  understand  the  Scriptures  in  one  way,  and 
another  in  another.  There  must  be  judges,  in  order 
to  decide  who  has  given  the  right  interpretation." 
Zwmgli  answered  that  he  would  give  to  no  man  a 
place  above  the  Scriptures. 

"  But  what  shall  he  do,"  asked  a  priest,  "  who  has  so 
small  an  income  as  not  to  be  able  to  buy  a  Testament?" 
"  There  is  no  priest  so  poor,"  answered  Zwingli, 
"  who,  if  he  really  wishes  a  Testament,  may  not 
have  one.  A  pious  citizen,  or  some  other  person,  will 
buy  him  one  or  furnish  him  with  money  to  buy  one." 

Faber  again  spoke,  saying  that  Zwingli's  theses 
were  contrary  to  the  Scriptures,  and  untrue.  This, 
he  said,  he  could  prove  in  debate  or  in  writing. 
"  Why  not  now  and  here  ?  "  cried  Zwingli. 

As  the  assembly  broke  up  the  Burgomaster  of  Zu- 
rich said :  "  The  sword  with  which  the  pastor  of  Fis- 
lisbach  was  slain  sticks  in  its  scabbard,"  meaning,  says 
Bullinger,  that  the  Vicar-General  had  not  produced 
the  Scriptures  with  which  he  claimed  to  have  proved 
to  his  prisoner  at  Constance  the  error  of  his  position. 
Zwingli  had  won  an  easy  and  decisive  victory. l 

1  Zwingli's  Werke,  Schuler  u.  Schulthess  ed.,  s.  105-153. 


CHAPTER  III. 


RADICAL    TENDENCIES   IN   SOME    OF   ZWINGLI  S    ASSO- 
CIATES. 

The  principle  so  firmly  and  successfully  maintained 
by  Zwingli  in  this  discussion,  that  all  questions  are 
to  be  decided  by  the  Scriptures  alone,  was  at  once 
seized  by  Zwingli's  radical  associates,  and  applied  in 
ways  that  Zwingli  had  not  foreseen.  The  payment 
of  tithes  and  rents,  one  of  the  chief  causes  subse- 
quently of  the  Peasants'  War, 2  was  a  burden  which 
the  common  people  had  endured  with  growing  impa- 
tience.    In  their  study  of  the  New  Testament  Reub- 

2  Articles  2  and  8  of  the  Twelve  Articles  which  were  circula- 
ted through  Switzerland  and  Germany  were  as  follows  : 

2.  Only  the  great  tithe  [the  legal  tithe  of  corn],  as  ordained  in 
the  Old  Testament,  shall  be  paid  in  future ;  and  after  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  minister  is  provided  for,  the  remainder  shall  be  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  village  poor,  and  a  little  laid  by  for  times 
of  war.  But  we  will  no  longer  pay  the  small  tithes  ;  "  they  are 
unjust  tithes  of  man's  invention/'  for  "  the  Lord  God  created 
beasts  for  man's  free  use." 

8.  Rents  are  so  high  that  they  ruin  the  peasants.  They  shall 
be  regulated  afresh  according  to  reason. 

These  articles  are  to  be  found  in  Zimmermann's  Allgemeine 
Geschichte  des  grossenBauernkrieges  2te  Theil,  s.  100-105. 

61 


62  THE   ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

lin  and  Stumpf  found  no  trace  of  these  grievances, 
and  they  assailed  them  as  vigorously  as  Zwingli  had 
assailed  the  invocation  of  saints.  "  We  ask  nothing," 
they  said,  "  but  what  was  promised  by  the  apostles. 
We  are  supported  in  our  demands  by  the  Scriptures." 

The  question  was  one  of  general  interest.  April  8, 
1523,  Berthold  Haller,  of  Berne,  wrote  to  Zwingli : 
"  The  nobles,  who  delight  so  much  in  tithes  and  rents, 
are  especially  hostile  to  the  gospel ;  therefore  I 
greatly  desire  that  you  will  give  me  your  view  of 
Matthew  5 ;  42,  in  order  that  I  may  satisfy  the  oppo- 
nents as  well  as  the  friends  of  the  gospel.  I  know 
what  some  authorities  say,  but  I  cannot  be  satisfied 
until  you  {have  given  me  your  opinion  fully.'1 
Zwingli  gave  expression  to  his  views  upon  this  sub- 
ject in  his  sermon  on  Divine  and  Human  Righteous- 
ness, which  he  preached  June  24,  1523.  "  While  we 
are  to  render  to  every  man  what  is  his  due,"  he  said, 
"  the  magistrates  should  make  it.  their  duty  to  see 
that  no  injustice  is  done  in  the  matter  of  tithes  and 
rents.  If  injustice  is  done,  a  remedy  should  be  pro- 
vided." 2 

But  words  like  these  did  not  satisfy  the  more  radi- 
cal of  the  reform  party.  Grebel,  in  a  letter  to  Va- 
dian,  July  13,   1523,  said  :  "  In  the  matter  of  tithes, 

1  Zwingli,  Opera,  vii.  s.  287. 

2  Zwingle,  Werke,  i.  s.  452-455. 


RADICAL  TENDENCIES.  03 

in  and  around  Zurich,  tyranny  is  practiced.  Those 
who  take  them  I  will  call  the  tyrants  of  our  father- 
land." '  and  so  in  many  places  public  meetings  were 
held,  in  which  the  grievances  of  the  much  enduring 
peasantry  were  discussed.  Zollikon,  Riesbach,  Fal- 
landen,  Hirslanden,  Unterstrass,  and  Wytikon  asked 
for  relief.  Reublin  and  Stumpf  were  especially  pro- 
minent in  these  meetings.  Their  words  found  ready 
entrance  to  the  hearts  of  the  common  people,  who 
hailed  with  delight  a  gospel  which  laid  hold  of  the 
burdens  that  weighed  so  heavily  upon  them ;  and  it 
soon  came  to  pass,  especially  in  places  where  the  pas- 
tors were  in  sympathy  with  the  oppressed,  that  many 
of  the  peasants  would  pay  neither  tithes  nor  rents. 

Other  questions  were  soon  raised  which  widened 
still  further  the  breach  between  Zwingle  and  the 
more  radical  of  the  Zurich  Eeformers.  One  of  these 
questions  had  reference  to  the  use  of  images  in  the 
churches.  It  was  claimed  that  this  was  not  only  a 
departure  from  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel,  but  con- 
trary to  the  word  of  God.     A  small  tract  by  Ludwig 

1  Zwingli,  Werke,  ii.  s.  373.  -The  learned  editors  of  Zwingli's 
works,  Sehuler  u.  Schulthess,  say:  "Da  Zwingli  fur  Irrthum 
erklarte  dass  der  Zehuten  eine  gottliche  Einsetzung  sey,  mochte 
Grebel  ihn  fur  einen  Gegner  desselben  in  dieser  Zeit  halten  ;  aber 
Zwingli  unterschied  zwischen  gottlicher  Einsetzung  und  burger- 
licher  Schuld.M  Werke,  ii.  s.  373.  See  also  Heberle,  Jarbucherfiir 
Deutsche  Theologie,  185S,  ii.  Heft.  s.  233,  234. 


C4  THE  ANABAPTISTS   IN    SWITZERLAND. 

Hetzer,  1  which  appeared  September  24,  1523,  is 
worthy  of  notice  in  this  connection.  Hetzer  was  a  native 
of  Bischofszell  in  Thurgau.  It  is  not  known  whether 
he  received  his  education  at  the  University  of  Frei- 
burg or  that  of  Basel;  but  at  one  or  the  other  of 
these  seats  of  learning  he  became  well  versed  in 
classical  and  Hebrew  literature — studies  which  at  a 
later  period  bore  fruit  in  his  translation  of  the  Old 
Testament-prophets  into  the  language  of  the  com- 
mon people.  On  the  completion  of  his  University 
studies  Hetzer  received  an  appointment  as  Chap- 
lain at  Wadenschwyl,  on  the  road  from  Zurich  to 
Einsiedeln,  and  opposite  Rapperschwyl.  Afterwards 
he  was  transferred  to  Zurich.  He  seems  early  to 
have  become  interested  in  the  reform  movement, 
though  his  name  comes  before  us  first  in  the  appear- 
ance of  his  tract  against  the  use  of  images,  which  he 
entitled,  Ein  Erteil  Gottes.2  The  tract  consists  of  two 

1  Concerning  Hetzer  see  Keim.  Ludwig  Hetzer,  Ein  Beitrag 
zur  Characteristik  der  Sektenbewegungen  in  der  Reformationszeit  : 
Jahrbilchcr far  Deutsche  Theologie,  1856,  2te.  Heft. 

2  The  title  of  the  tract  in  full  is  as  follows;  Ein  Urteil  Gottes 
unsers  eegemahels,  wie  man  sich  mit  alien  gotzen  und  bildnussen  halt- 
en  sol,  uss  der  heiligen  gschrifft  gezogen  durch  Ludwig  Hcitzer.  The 
tract  contains  twenty  pages,  and  was  printed  at  Zurich  by  Chris- 
topher Froschauer  under  date  of  Sept.  24,  1523.  Referring  to 
this  tract,  Leo  Jud,  at  the  second  Zurich  Discussion  said  ;  "  Es 
ist  ein  biichle  in  kurzen  tagen  hie  usgongen  in  dem  druck,   darin 


RADICAL  TENDENCIES.  65 

parts.  In  the  first  part,  Hetzer  gives  quotations 
from  the  Pentateuch,  the  historical  books  of  the  Old 
Testament,  the  Psalms,  and  the  Prophets,  without 
word  or  comment.  His  aim  is  simply  to  set  forth  the 
teaching  of  the  Scripture  in  reference  to  idol  worship 
and  idol  worshippers.  In  the  second  part  he  reviews 
the  arguments  in  favor  of  the  use  of  images  advanced 
by  the  old  church  party :  1,  the  Old  Testament  is  no 
longer  binding  on  Christians ;  2,  Not  the  images  but 
the  saints  are  worshipped ;  3,  Images  are  the  books 
of  the  common  people;  4,  they  lead  to  meditation, 
and  so  make  men  better.  In  closing  the  discussion 
Hetzer  appeals  to  the  "  Papists  "  to  produce  a  single 
passage  in  the  Scriptures  to  show  that  images  are 
good  for  anything  else  than  to  be  thrown  into  the  fire 
The  tract  had  a  rapid  and  wide  circulation.  Three 
editions  were  printed  before  the  end  of  the  year,  and 
a  Latin  translation  followed  in  1524. 

Hetzer 's  tract  was  not  the  occasion  of  the  move- 
ment against  the  use  of  images,  but  it  gave  it  force. 
It  was  at  this  time,  at  the  end  of  September,  1523, 
that  Nicholas  Hottinger,  with  a  band  of  image 
breakers,  destroyed  the  great  cross1  that  stood  just 

genugsamlich  mit  klarer  gottlicher  gescbrift  die  bilder  venvorfen 
werdend.''     Zwingli  Werke.  s.  u.  s.  Ed.  i.  s.  474. 

1  Nun  war  zu  Stadelhoffen  uff  Dorf  vor  der  Stadt  Zurich  an 
dem  ort,  da  jetzt  ein   Brunnen  vor   Herr   Burgemeister   M tiller's 


66  THE   ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

before  the  upper  gate  of  the  city.  This  deed,  and 
the  destruction  of  the  images  in  a  few  of  the  churches 
around  Zurich,  stirred  up  the  church  party,  and  a 
loud  outcry  was  raised  against  the  emboldened  icono- 
clasts. Plainly  they  had  gone  too  far.  But  the  peo- 
ple generally  were  with  Zwingli  when  he  said,  they 
had  done  nothing  wrong  in  itself,  but  were  guilty  of 
an  offence  against  the  magistrates,  Hottinger  and 
his  associates  were  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison, 
and  the  case  was  brought  before  the  Great  Council, 
in  which  on  account  of  conflicting  views  it  was  decided 
to  postpone  the  punishment  of  the  guilty  parties 
until  the  principles  involved  had  been  more  fully  dis- 
cussed. 

Meanwhile *  Zwingli  had  published  a  tract  calling 
attention  to  some  objections  to  the  mass-canon.  It 
was  not  intended  for  popular  use,  like  Hetzer's  tract 
against  images,  but  was  written  in  Latin  for  his  as- 
sociates in  the  ministry,  and  for  scholars,  who  were 
interested  in  the  reform  movement.  The  changes 
which  it  advocated  were  not  radical  enough  for  Gre- 
bel  and  his  friends.     In  their  view  these  were  half- 

niiwen  Haus  und  Garten  standt,  ein  gross  schb'n  geschnitzt  und 
uffgericht  Crucifix,  dahin  uss  andacht  vom  Anthoni  Stadler  dem 
schiffmacher  uffgesetzt.''  Bullinger,  Beformationsgeschichte,  i. 
8.  127. 

1  The  preface  is  dated  August  29,  1523.  For  the  tract  see 
Zwingli,  Opera,  iii.  83. 


RADICAL  TENDENCIES  67 

way  measures,  and  they  insisted  that  the  mass  should 
be  abolished  altogether.  Zwingli  replied  to  their 
criticisms  in  a  brief  apology, '  October  9,  1523,  but 
he  failed  to  satisfy  them  in  reference  to  the  wisdom 
of  his  course. 

With  a  view  to  a  settlement  of  the  controversy  in 
reference  to  the  use  of  images  and  the  sacrifice  of  the 
mass,  the  Zurich  Council  now  ordered  a  Second  Dis- 
cussion, which  was  held  October  26-28,  1523. 
Prominent  members  of  the  old  church  party  were 
invited,  but  declined  to  appear.  Accordingly,  the 
discussion  was  between  the  friends  of  reform  alone, 
of  whom  more  than  nine  hundred  were  present. 

Among  those  who  participated  in  the  discussion 
was  Dr.  Balthasar  Hubmeier,2  pastor  at  Waldshut. 
A  native  of  Friedberg,  near  Augsburg,  in  Bavaria. 
He  was  born  near  the  end  of  the  15th  century.  Un- 
der the  celebrated  Dr.  John  Eck,  Luther's  antagonist 
at  Leipzig,  he  studied  philosophy  and  theology  at  the 
University  of  Freiburg  where  he  was  matriculated 
May  1,  1503.  When  Eck  removed  to  Ingolstadt, 
Hubmeier  accompanied  him,  and  in  1512,  probably 
through  Eck's  influence,  he  received  an  appointment 
as  preacher  and  professor  of  theology  in  the  Univer- 

1  See  Zwingli,  Opera,  iii.  s.  117. 

'Concerning  Hubmeier  see  Schreiber,  Taschenbuch  fur  Gesch- 
ichte  u.  Alterthum  in  Saddeutschland,  1839. 


68  THE    ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

sity  at  that  place.  In  1516,  lie  was  called  to  the  Ca- 
thedral in  Regensburg,  where  his  sermons  attracted 
great  attention.  While  in  Regensburg,  by  means  of 
Luther's  writings,  he  became  interested  in  the  reform 
movement,  and  not  long  after,  resigning  not  only  the 
very  honorable  position  which  he  held,  but  the  most 
nattering  prospects  of  preferment  in  the  Romish 
Church,  he  made  his  way  to  Schaffhausen,  and  through 
the  influence  of  friends  in  that  place  soon  received  a 
pastorate  at  Waldshut,  a  neighboring  town.  There 
his  piety,  learning,  and  eloquence  were  highly  appre- 
ciated, but  the  field  was  a  limited  one,  and  when  in 
the  autumn  of  1522,  in  the  progress  of  the  work  of 
reform,  he  was  recalled  to  Regensburg  to  take  the 
pastorate  of  one  of  the  churches,  he  accepted  the  in- 
vitation, and  on  his  return  to  that  place,  November 
10,  he  was  cordially  welcomed  by  all  classes  of  people 
But  his  stay  in  Regensburg  was  a  brief  one.  In  March, 
1523,  we  find  him  again  in  Waldshut.  Not  long 
after  he  visited  Zwingli  at  Zurich,  and  conferred  with 
him  in  reference  to  the  reformation  of  the  church, 
and  especially  in  reference  to  infant  baptism.1 
From  Zurich  he  proceeded  to  St.  Gall,  probably  for  a 
conference  with  Vadian.  While  at  St.  Gall  he 
preached  in  the  church  of  St.  Magnus.  He  also 
preached  to  a  large  crowd  in  the  open  air,  and  with 

1  Sclireiber  Taschenbuch,  1839.  25. 


RADICAL  TENDENCIES.  69 

such  power  that  his  hearers  followed  him  to  his  inn, 
urging  him  further  to  unfold  to  them  the  word  of 
God.  This  he  did  standing  at  a  window,  while  the 
people  thronged  the  street  below.  He  soon  returned 
to  Waldshut,  carrying  with  him  the  friendship  of 
Vadian,  and  in  October  following  was  summoned  with 
others  to  the  Second  Discussion  at  Zurich. 

At  this  Second  Discussion  Grebel  and  Stumpf  rep- 
resented the  radical  wing  of  the  reform  party. ! 
The  views  of  Zwingli  and  those  who  were  in  agree- 
ment with  him  did  not  satisfy  them.  Moreover, 
while  the  appeal  was  to  the  Scriptures  as  the  supreme 
authority,  they  found  that  the  decision  after  all  was 
with  the  Council.  Thus  at  the  close  of  the  second 
day,  when  Grebel  desired  that  the  priests  should  be 
instructed  in  reference  to  the  mass,  Zwingli  replied 
that  the  Council  would  decide  as  to  the  course  which 
they  should  pursue.  At  once  Stumpf  cried  out: 
"  You  have  no  authority  to  leave  the  decision  with 
them.  The  decision  is  already  given.  The  Spirit  of 
God  decides.  Should  the  gentlemen  of  the  Council 
give  a  decision  contrary  to  the  word  of  God,  implor- 
ing Christ  for  his  Spirit,  I  will  teach  and  act  against 

it." 

Hubmeier  spoke  on  both  of  the  topics  under  dis- 
cussion.    Concerning  images  he  showed  that  they  are 

1  Hetzer  acted  as  Scribe  and  took  no  part  in  the  discussion. 


70  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

forbidden  in  the  Scriptures,  and  that  God  not  only  is 
displeased  with  the  worship  of  images,  but  with  those 
who  make  them  (Deut.  27: 15) ;  and  that  his  command 
is  that  the  images  shall  be  burned  with  fire  (Deut. 
7: 25)  while  all  the  people  say  Amen.  u  Amen !  " 
shouted  some  of  his  hearers.  Concerning  the  mass, 
Hubmeier  appealed  to  what  he  called  "  the  clear  word 
of  God."  The  passages  were  cited,  and  he  added, 
"  Christ  does  not  say,  '  This  offer,'  but  '  This  do.'  " 
In  closing  his  address  he  said,  "  I  may  err,  for  I  am 
a  man ;  but  a  heretic  I  am  not."  ' 

The  mandate  of  the  Council,2  which  appeared 
November  17,  was  as  unsatisfactory  to  Grebel  and  his 
friends  as  was  the  discussion  itself.  The  immediate 
removal  of  the  images  was  not  required,  and  as  to 
the  mass,  each  priest  was  left  free  to  celebrate  it  or 
not.  It  was  provided,  however,  that  the  views  of  the 
Council  should  be  laid  before  the  bishops  of  Constance, 
Chur,  and  Basel,  also  the  University  of  Basel,  with 
the  promise  that  after  six  months  the  matter  should 
be  finally  settled.3      A    wise    prudence,  doubtless, 

1  For  a  full  account  of  the  Second  Discussion  see  Zwingli  Werke 
i.  s.  461-540. 

2  FUsslin,  Beytrage,  ii.  s.  43-46. 

3  "  Sein  Grundsatz  war  Schonung,  das  heisst  er  brachte  nur 
solche  Fragen  zu  offentlichen  Besprechung,  fiir  deren  evangelische 
Losung  er  die  Mehrheit  zu  gewmnen  hoffen  durfte,  und  liess  sie 
erst  dann  zur  Entscheidung  kommen,  wann  er  wirklich  der  Mehr- 


EADICAL  TENDENCIES.  71 

was  manifested  in  these  moderate  measures  :  but  to 
the  radical  reformers  the  course  thus  marked  out  was 
simply  a  call  to  halt.  And  this  they  would  not  heed. 
It  is  better,  they  said,  to  take  counsel  of  God  than  of 
men.  Especially  was  it  an  occasion  of  dissatisfaction 
with  them  that  the  churches  in  and  around  Zurich, 
which  had  broken  away  from  the  grasp  of  Rome, 
should  thus  be  made  dependent  upon  the  State.  "  It 
stands  ill  with  the  gospel  in  Zurich,"  wrote  Grebel  to 
Vadian,  "  and  Zwingli  no  longer  acts  a  shepherd's 
part."  From  this  time,  the  reform  party  was  hope- 
lessly divided,  and  the  earnestness  with  which  Zwingli 
assailed  the  radicals  in  a  tract1  published  November  17, 
and  which  with  the  mandate  was  sent  to  all  the  pas- 
tors in  the  Canton  for  the  purpose  of  securing  uni- 
formity of  opinion  and  action  in  reference  to  images 
and  the  mass,  is  an  indication  that  the  radicals  were 
even  at  that  time  neither  few  in  numbers  nor  wanting 
in  influence. 

Hottinger  was  now  banished  from  the  Canton  for 
two  years,  and  Laurence  Hochrutiner,  one  of  his  asso- 
ciates, was  banished  for  life.  Hottinger  went  into 
Baden,  where  in  several  places  he  proscribed  the  use  of 

heitsichergewordenwar.''  Cornelius,  Geschichte  des  Munsterischen 
Aufruhrs,  ii.  s.  18. 

1  Ein  kurze  christenliche  Ynleitung.      See  Zwingli,  Werke,  i.  8. 
543-565. 


72  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN  SWITZERLAND. 

images  and  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass. l  Hochriitiner, 
who  was  a  native  of  St.  Gall,  returned  to  his  early 
home. 

1  Hottinger  was  at  length  arrested  at  Coblenz  and  brought  to 
trial,  but  the  court,  instead  of  passing  sentence  upon  him,  deliv- 
ered him  to  the  Swiss  deputies  assembled  at  Lucerne,  who  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  investigate  the  case.  Hottinger  re-assert- 
ed his  opposition  to  the  mass,  images,  and  the  invocation  of  saints, 
and  announced  his  purpose  to  abide  in  this  faith,  although  the 
whole  world  should  call  him  a  heretic.  Upon  this  confession  he 
was  condemned  and  sentenced  to  be  beheaded.  When  the  sen- 
tence was  declared  Hottinger  began  to  speak  of  God  and  redemp- 
tion through  Christ.  The  Landamman  of  Uri,  Jacob  Troger,  said, 
"  We  are  not  here  to  be  preached  to.  There  is  no  need  of  this 
talk.  Away  with  him  !  "  The  Landvogt  Fleckenstein  said,  "  We 
will  take  off  Irs  head,  and  if  it  grows  on  again,  we  will  accept  his 
faith."  Hottinger  replied  :  "  It  is  in  accordance  with  the  will  of 
God.  May  he  pardon  all  those  who  are  hostile  to  me,  and  lead 
me  to  death.  To  the  Lord  on  the  cross  it  was  said,  '  Come  down 
from  the  cross,  and  we  will  believe  thee.'  "  He  then  addressed 
the  people  concerning  salvation  by  the  cross  of  Christ  alone. 
Many  wept  as  they  listened.  "  Weep  not  for  me,"  said  Hottinger 
"  but  for  yourselves.  Repent  and  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  At  the  place  of  execution  he  addressed  his  judges  and 
prayed  for  their  forgiveness.  Turning  to  the  people  he  said,  ■'  If 
I  have  wronged  any  man  I  ask  his  forgiveness,  as  I  also  forgive 
every  one."  Then  commending  his  spirit  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
he  laid  his  head  upon  the  block,  and  the  sentence  was  executed. 
He  was  the  first  of  the  Swiss  martyrs.  Bullinger,  Eeformations- 
geschichte,  i.  s.  145-151. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THESE  TENDENCIES. 

In-  the  development  of  these  radical  tendencies  in 
the  movement  for  church  reform,  Simon  Stumpf, 
Pastor  of  the  church  at  Hongg,  was  especially  pro- 
minent ;  and  not  long  after  the  Second  Discussion, 
by  reason  of  the  zeal  with  which  he  proclaimed  the 
views  of  the  new  party,  he  was  dismissed  from  his 
pastorate  by  the  Zurich  Council.  His  people  earn- 
estly entreated  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  remain. 
But  the  Council  would  not  recede  from  the  position 
it  had  taken,  and  as  Stumpf  continued  to  preach,  a 
decree  of  banishment  was  issued  December  25,  1523, 
and  Stumpf  went  into  Germany.  ' 

It  was  by  Stumpf  that  the  idea  of  a  church,  com- 
posed of  believers  only,  according  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment model,  was  first  suggested  to  Zwingli.  The 
suggestion  seems  to  have  been  made  in  the  summer, 
or  more  probably  in  the  autumn,  of  1523,  certainly 
previous  to  the  Second  Discussion.  The  idea  was 
unquestionably  derived  from  a  study  of  the  New 
Testament.     Whether  it  was  original  with  Stumpf  or 

1  Fiisslin,  Bcytrlige,  ii.  s.  43. 

4  73 


74  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

not  is  unknown.  That  at  this  time,  however,  this  idea 
was  cherished  only  among  those  who  had  separated 
from  Zwingli  in  the  work  of  reform,  is  certain.  These 
men  had  made  the  Bible  the  supreme  authority  in 
matters  of  faith  and  practice.  Having  separated 
from  the  Church  of  Borne,  they  naturally  asked, 
What  should  take  its  place  ?  They  turned  to  the 
Scriptures  for  an  answer.  There  they  learned  that 
the  apostolic  churches  were  composed  of  those  only 
who  were  the  avowed  followers  of  Christ,  and  that  a 
union  of  believers  and  unbelievers,  as  in  the  Eomish 
Church,  or  the  new  State  Church,  had  no  warrant  in 
the  sacred  word.  That  such  an  idea  should  have  had 
its  origin  and  advocacy  among  these  radicals  is  a 
witness  to  the  profound  religious  spirit  from  which  it 
proceeded. l  They  made  much  of  the  necessity  of 
personal  godliness ;  and  to  restore  primitive  Chris- 
tianity, as  they  found  it  in  the  New  Testament,  was 
the  end  toward  which  they  devoutly  pressed."  "  Let 
him  who  will  stand  with  Christ,"  said  Grebel,  "  stand 
at  his  side." 

And  this  he  urged  upon  Zwingli.  But  his  words 
were  powerless.  Zwingli  would  have  no  Donatist 
church,  consisting  of  saints  alone,  he  said. 2  In 
support  of  his  position  he  appealed  to  the  words  of 

1  Cornelius,  Oeschiehte  des  M'dnsterischen  Aufruhrs,  ii.  s.  22. 
3  Dorner,  Oeschiehte  d.  prot.  Theologie,  s.  293. 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT.  75 

Christ.  "  He  that  is  not  against  us,  is  for  us  ;  " 
also  to  the  parable  of  the  tares  and  the  wheat,  claim- 
ing that  such  a  separation  as  was  proposed  would  not 
be  in  harmony  with  the  teaching  of  the  parable. 
Besides,  if  they  were  now  to  separate  the  tares  from 
the  wheat,  what  would  remain  for  the  angels  to  do  at 
the  end  of  the  world  ? 

Subsequently,  Felix  Mantz  endeavored  to  win 
Zwingli  to  the  new  view.  Like  Grebel,  Mantz  was  a 
native  of  Zurich,  a  son,  though  not  by  marriage,  of  a 
canon  of  the  Cathedral.  He  was  a  man  of  scholarly 
tastes,  and  had  given  particular  attention  to  the  He- 
brew language,  which  he  had  studied  under  Ceporinus 
(Jacob  Wiesendanger).  He  had  been  associated 
with  Zwingli  from  the  commencement  of  church 
reform  in  Zurich,  it  would  seem  ; l  but  at  this  time 
he  was  in  full  sympathy  with  Grebel.  In  his  inter- 
view with  Zwingli,  urging  the  importance  of  purity 
in  the  church,  Mantz  appealed  to  the  testimony  of 
Paul,  and  maintained  that  fornication,  adultery,  cov- 
etousness,  and  the  like  should  not  be  allowed  among 
Christians.  He  would  have  Zwingli  take  this  posi- 
tion, and  give  notice  to  this  effect.  "  You  do  this," 
answered  Zwingli,  "  and  exclude  from  the  church 
those  who  have  these  vices."  "  It  is  not  in  my  power," 
added  Mantz  :  "lam  not  bishop,  like  Zwingli." 

1  Bullinger,  Heformationsgeschichie,  i.  s.  30. 


76  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

And  so  the  breach  between  the  radicals  and  Zwin- 
gli widened  daily.  Grebel  and  his  associates  came 
together  frequently  for  the  study  of  the  Scriptures 
and  mutual  edification.  In  their  study  they  were  not 
long  in  discovering  that  there  is  no  scriptural  foun- 
dation for  infant  baptism,  and  they  assailed  the  prac- 
tice as  a  human  invention.  Zwingli,  as  he  himself 
confesses,  had  at  one  time  entertained  the  view  that 
it  would  be  better  not  to  baptize  children  until  they 
were  somewhat  advanced  in  years.1  Like  Luther,  he 
thought  at  first  that  faith  before  baptism  was  indis- 
pensable. In  conversation  with  Grebel,  Hubmeier, 
an  I  others,  Zwingli  had  frequently  taken  this  posi- 
tion. 2  But  in  his  opposition  to  the  radicals  he  was 
led  to  abandon  it.  There  was  another  consideration 
that  influenced  him.  "  He  saw  that  the  setting  aside 
of  infant  baptism  was  the  same  as  setting  aside  the 
National  Church,  exchanging  a  hitherto  national  re- 
formation of  the  church  for  one  more  or  less  Donatist. 
For  if  infant  baptism  were  given  up,  because  faith 
was  not  yet  there,  then  there  only  remained  as  the 
right  time  for  it  the  moment  when  living  faith  and 

1  See  Werke,  ii.  s.  245. 

2  Egli,  Die  Zuricher  Wiedertaufer,  s.  17,  says  :  "Zwingli  und 
die  andern  Pr'adicanten  begriffen  diesen  Eifer  anfangs  nicht,  bis 
sie  merkten,  das.s  es  auf  die  Wiedertaufe  als  auf  ein  Abzeichen 
der  angestrebten  Sonderkirche  abgesehen  sei." 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT.  77 

regeneration  were  certain.  And  then  baptism  would 
become  the  sign  of  fellowship  of  the  regenerate,  the 
saints,  who  bind  themselves  together  as  atoms  out  of 
the  world."  l 

In  March,  1524,  the  pastor  at  Rifferschwyl  preached 
a  sermon  in  which  he  referred  to  infant  baptism  as 
u  a  useless  thing.  One  might  as  well  baptize  a  cow 
or  a  calf,"  he  said.  In  the  same  month  Grebel  wrote 
to  Vadian  : 2  "  Those  who  understand  the  teaching  of 
the  Scriptures  in  reference  to  baptism  refuse  to  allow 
their  children  to  be  baptized."  About  the  same  time, 
at  Wytikon,  William  Eeublin  began  to  preach  against 
infant  baptism,  and  not  a  few  among  his  people  were 
won  to  the  new  doctrine.  At  length,  during  the 
summer, 3  the  leaders  of  the  radical  party  expressed 
a  desire  to  discuss  the  subject  with  the  Zurich  pastors. 
The  desire  was  granted,  and  the  discussion  was  held 
in  private,  with  witnesses  for  both  parties.  Two  ses- 
sions were  held  without  any  practical  result. 

At  last,  early  in  August,  the  members  of  the 
Council  summoned  before  them  two  men  from  Wyti- 
kon who  had  refused  to  have  their  children  baptized. 
At  the  examination  that  followed,  the  accused  replied 
that  they   had  acted  according  to  the  teachings   of 

1  Dorner,  Oeschichte  d.  prot.  Theologie,  s.  293,  294. 

Zwingli,  Werke,  ii.  s.  231. 
3  Zwingli,  Werke,  ii.  s.  261. 


78  THE   ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

Reublin.  The  latter  was  arrested  and  imprisoned,1 
and  a  commission  was  appointed  to  examine  him  in 
reference  to  his  teachings,  and  report  to  the  Council. 
It  was  also  ordered  that  those  who  had  unbaptized 
children  should  have  them  baptized,  or  submit  to  a 
fine  of  a  silver  mark.  At  the  same  time  the  two 
from  Wytikon  were  summoned  before  the  Council, 
three  others  from  Zollikon,  a  village  near  Zurich, 
also  heads  of  families,  who  had  refused  to  have  their 
children  baptized,  were  ordered  to  present  themselves 
for  examination  by  the  Council.  When  asked,  why 
they  had  not  had  their  children  baptized,  they  replied 
that  children  ought  not  to  be  baptized  until  they 
were  old  enough  to  exercise  personal  faith,  and  ap- 
pealed to  the  word  of  G-od  as  their  authority  for  tak- 
ing this  position.  At  the  close  of  the  examination 
they  were  threatened  with  punishment  if  they  per- 
sisted in  their  obstinacy,  but  the  threats  of  the  Council 
were  of  no  avail,  and  the  children  remained  unbaptized. 
On  his  return  to  Waldshut,  after  the  Second  Zurich 
Discussion,  Hubmeier  had  devoted  himself  zealously 
to  the  work  of  church  reform.  The  old  church 
party,  however,  was  not  inactive,  and,  not  long  after, 
a  request  for  the  removal  of  Hubmeier  from  his  pas- 
torate was  made  to  the  Waldshut  authorities.     Sub- 

1  Fiisslin.  Beytrage,  ii.  8.  64-67.  , 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT.  79 

sequently  it  was  urged  by  some  that  Hubmeier  should 
be  given  up  to  Austria,  Waldshut  being  within  the 
imperial  jurisdiction.  The  opposition  to  Hubmeier 
on  the  part  of  his  Romanist  opponents  was  at  length 
so  strong  that  he  deemed  it  best  to  ask  to  be  relieved 
of  the  duties  of  his  office.  This  request  having  been 
granted,  Hubmeier  left  Waldshut,  August  17,  1524, 
and  proceeded  to  Schaffhausen,  accompanied  by  a 
guard  of  Waldshut  citizens  as  far  as  the  boundaries 
of  the  Canton,  where  he  was  met  by  horsemen  from 
Scahaffhusen,  who  conducted  him  to  their  city.  Here 
he  found  an  asylum,  not  in  a  private  house  it  is 
thought,  but  in  a  cloister. 

His  enemies,  however,  followed  him,  and  the  Coun- 
cil of  Schaffhausen  was  earnestly  implored  to  arrest 
and  imprison  him,  or  to  deliver  him  into  the  hands 
of  the  Emperor.  Hubmeier  accordingly  appealed  to 
the  Council  for  justice,  and  declared  himself  ready  to 
submit  his  case  in  a  discussion.  In  communicating 
his  views,  he  addressed  three  letters l  to  the  Coun- 
cil. In  the  second  of  these  letters,  with  implicit  con- 
idence  in  the  triumph  of  the  truth,  he  offered  to 
meet  his  opponents,  together  with  the  pastors  of  Lu- 
cerne, Appenzell,  Uri,  and   Baden,  and   discuss  the 

1  Ein  ernstliche  Christenliche  erbietung  an  einen  Ersamen 
Rate  ze  Schaffhusen,  durch  doctor  Baldazar  Submor  von  fridberg, 
Pfarrern  ze  Waldshut,  bestehen.   Die  Warheit  ist  untodtlich.    1524. 


80  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

points  at  issue  between  them.  "  If  I  am  wrong,"  he 
said  "  let  me  be  punished.  If,  however,  these  pastors 
are  wrong,  I  ask  only  that  they  may  be  brought  to  a 
knowledge  of  their  error,  and  left  unpunished,"  and 
he  closed  his  letter  with  these  noble  words  :  "  Divine 
truth  is  immortal,  and  although  for  awhile  it  may  be 
arrested,  scourged,  crowned,  crucified,  and  buried, 
it  will,  nevertheless,  on  the  third  day  rise  victorious, 
and  rule  and  triumph  forever  and  ever." 

In  a  third  letter  to  the  Council,  Hubmeier  repeated 
his  request  for  a  discussion.  He  was  unwilling  he 
said,  to  be  condemned  unheard;  and,  still  confident 
of  the  rightfulness  of  his  position,  he  wrote  :  "  I  am 
ready  to  give  all  men  an  account  of  my  doctrine,  my 
belief,  and  my  hope,  as  for  two  years  I  have  preached 
the  same.  If  I  have  spoken  the  truth,  why  am  I 
assailed  and  others  for  my  sake  ?  If  I  have  erred  and 
taught  what  is  false,  I  call  upon  all  Christians  to 
testify  to  the  same,  and  from  the  Scriptures  to  show 
me  again  the  right  way."  The  appeal  closed  with 
these  words  :  "  I  entreat  all  believers  in  Christ  to  unite 
with  me  in  prayer  to  God  that  he  will  impart  to  me 
his  grace  and  strength,  and  bestow  upon  me  a  brave, 
un terrified,  princely  spirit,  to  the  end,  that  I  may 
rest  upon  his  holy  word,  and  in  a  true  Christian  faith 
may  commend  my  spirit  into  God's  hands,  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  his  only  begotten  Son." 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT.  81 

It  is  thought  by  Schreiber x  that  Hubmeier,  dur- 
ing this  residence  in  Schaffhausen,  wrote  his  tract 
entitled,  "  Concerning  Heretics,  and  those  who  Burn 
them,"  2  in  which  he  maintains  that  the  burning  of 
heretics  cannot  be  justified  from  the  Scriptures. 
Christ  taught  that  the  wheat  and  the  tares  are  to 
grow  together.  The  burning  of  curious  books  he 
holds  is  not  unchristian  according  to  Acts  19 :  19. 
"  It  is  a  small  thing  to  burn  innocent  papers,"  he 
adds,  "  but  to  point  out  errors,  and  to  confute  them 
with  the  Scriptures,  that  is  art." 

Meanwhile  there  was  a  change  in  the  state  of 
affairs  in  Waldshut.  As  the  imperial  government 
was  making  strenuous  efforts  to  support  the  old 
church  party  there,  Waldshut  called  upon  its  friends 
for  help,  and  issued  an  address  "  To  all  believing 
Christians." 

"  We  are  decried,"  says  the  address,  "  on  account 
of  new  doctrine.  This  is  done  through  ill-will.  We 
hear  of  no  new  doctrine,  and  know  of  none  ;  but  hear 

1  Taschenbuch  fur  Geschichte  u.  Alterthum  in  Suddeutschland 
1839,  s.  63. 

2  Von  Ketzern  und  iren    Verbrennern.      Vergleichung  der  Oe- 

schrifften,  zusammengezogen  durch  Doctor  Balthazeren  Fridbergern, 

Pfarrern  zu  Waldshut,  zu  Gefallen  Bruder  Anthonin,    Vicari  zu 

Constanz,  dem  ausserlesenen  Thonoachter  on  ain  Posaunen.     Die 

Warheit  ist  untodtlich.     Anno  1523.  Jar. 
4* 


82  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

only  the  doctrine  of  Christ  as  taught  by  himself  and 
his  apostles,  by  his  command.  .  .  .  It  is  said  that  at 
Waldshut  Luther's  doctrine  is  preached.  We  know 
not  who  Luther  is,  and  we  know  not  his  doctrine. 
Without  doubt  he  is  a  man  as  we ;  if  he  speaks  or 
writes  the  truth,  it  is  not  his  own  truth,  but  Christ's. 
Christ  we  know,  and  daily  from  his  holy  word  we 
learn  more  concerning  him.  We  are  not  baptized  in 
the  name  of  Luther,  or  any  other  man,  but  of  Christ ; 
in  his  name  we  bend  the  knee,  not  in  the  name  of 
Luther;  in  his  name  we  must  be  saved." 

A  special  appeal  was  made  to  the  Council  of  Zurich 
where  an  armed  force  was  at  once  raised  for  the 
assistance  of  the  "  Christian  brethren  at  Waldshut," 
who  were  "suffering  under  the  heavy  hand  of  tyranny." 
This  force  entered  Waldshut  by  night  during  the  first 
week  in  October,  but  in  a  few  days,  there  being  no 
immediate  need  of  their  services,  many  of  the  Zurich 
soldiers  returned  to  their  homes. 

Toward  the  end  of  October,  Hubmeier  again  ap- 
peared in  Waldshut,  and  was  received  with  great  joy 
by  the  people.  One  of  the  first  things  he  did  after 
his  return  was  to  challenge  the  old  church  party,  in- 
cluding his  earlier  friend  and  instructor,  Dr.  John 
Eck,  to  a  discussion ;  and  to  the  challenge  he  ap- 
pended* twenty-six  theses   in  German    and  Latin.1 

The  theses  in  both  Latin  and  German  were  published  in  the 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT.  83 

But  the  discussion  did  not  take  place.  Eck  had 
more  pressing  matters  on  hand ;  and  Hubmeier  was 
soon  busily  engaged  in  the  work  he  had  laid  down 
when  he  withdrew  from  Waldshut. 

It  was  while  Hubmeier  was  in  Schaffhausen  that 
we  find  Grebel  and  his  friends  in  correspondence 
with  Miinzer l  and  Carlstadt.     There  is  a  reference 

Latin  edition,  from  the  press  of  Froschauer  in  Zurich,  bearing 
date  of  November  4,  1524. 

1  Thomas  Miinzer  was  born  at  Stollberg,  at  the  foot  of  the 
Hartz  Mountains,  toward  the  close  of  the  15th  century.  Seide- 
mann  (Thomas  Miinzer,)  thinks  it  was  about  the  year  1490.  In 
reference  to  his  early  years,  his  education,  and  the  place  where  he 
studied,  information  is  wanting  By  some  it  is  thought  that  he 
took  his  University  course  at  Wittenberg.  Others  find  evidence 
that  he  was  not  a  stranger  in  Leipzic,  and  think  he  may  have 
pursued  his  studies  there.  Melanchthon  confesses  that  he  had  a 
good  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures.  That  Miinzer  took  the  Univer- 
sity degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  we  know  from  letters  in  which  he 
is  addressed  by  this  title.  For  several  years  he  devoted  himself 
to  teaching,  first  at  Aschersleben,  then  at  Halle.  From  Halle  he 
went  to  Frohsa,  near  Aschersleben,  where  he  held  a  minor  eccle- 
siastical position.  Later,  about  the  year  1518,  he  was  a  teacher 
in  the  St.  Martin's  Gymnasium,  in  Brunswick.  Afterwards  we 
find  him  residing  with  Hans  Pelt,  a  clergyman,  probably  a  resi- 
dent of  Aschersleben.  About  New  Year's  Day,  1519,  he  was  in  Leip- 
zig. Early  in  the  6ame  year  he  was  made  chaplain  and  confes- 
sor of  the  nuns  in  the  cloister,  Beutitz,  near  "Weissenfels.  There 
in  his  opposition  to  the  Romish  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  as 
Luther  tells  us,  Miinzer  was  accustomed  at  the  morning  mass  to 


84  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

to  this  correspondence  in  a  letter  which  Grebel  ad- 
dressed to  Vadian,  September  3,  1524,  in  which  he 
mentions  the  fact  that  he  was  then  writing  to  Carlstadt 
and  was  about  to  write  to  Miinzer,  both  of  whose 
tracts  against  Luther — his  "Protestation"  and 
his  "  getichten  Glawben  " — Grebel  had  just  received 
and  read.  He  also  proposed,  he  said,  to  write  to 
Luther,  and  was  busy  preparing  a  theological  work. 

omit  the  words  at  which  the  transformation  is  said  to  be  effected. 
Indeed,  as  a  Reformer  he  was  already  in  advance  of  Luther, 
though  on  friendly  terms  with  him,  and  interested  in  the  course 
upon  which  he  had  entered.  At  the  discussion  which  Luther  had 
with  Eck,  at  Leipzig,  commencing  July  24, 1519,  Miinzer  was  pro- 
bably present,  and  it  was  not  without  Luther's  knowledge,  that 
in  the  following  year  Miinzer  was  called  to  Zwickau,  where  at 
first  he  became  a  preacher  at  St.  Mary's,  and  afterwards  at  St. 
Catherine's.  There  he  boldly  denounced  the  monks,  and  at  length, 
abandoned  by  the  Wittenberg  Reformers  on  account  of  his  radical 
views,  he  took  his  place  with  the  Zwickau  Prophets,  not  that  he 
shared  their  views  in  any  great  degree,  but  because  he  was  in 
sympathy  with  them  more  than  wiln  Luther  or  his  associates. 
In  1521,  he  went  into  Bohemia  "  to  speak  the  divine  message  oi 
love  and  liberty."  January  21,  1522,  he  was  in  Nordhausen, 
where  he  remained,  it  is  thought,  until  the  close  of  the  year.  At 
Easter,  1523,  he  was  at  Alstedt,  near  Eisenach,  where  he  had  re- 
cieved  an  appointment  as  preacher,  and  where  shortly  after  he 
was  married  to  a  nun  who  had  renounced  her  vows,  a  step  in 
which  he  was  followed  by  Luther  two  years  later.  His  first  work, 
in  which  also  he  had  in  Luther  a  successor,  was  to  set  aside  the 
Latin  liturgy,  and  to  arrange  for  a  free  church  service,  wholly  in 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT.  85 

Grebel's  letter  toMiinzerwas  dated  September  5, 1524, 
and  was  signed  not  only  by  Grebel,  but  by  Andrew 
Castelberg,  Felix  Mantz,  Hans  Ockenfuss,  Bartholo- 
mew Baur  and  Henry  Aberli.  Castelberg  was  a 
bookseller  of  Chur  in  Graubiinden,  the  Canton  of  the 
Grisons.  Hans  Ockenfuss  was  a  tailor  in  Zurich, 
and  was  one  of  those,  who,  in  the  previous  year,  were 
engaged  with  Hottinger  in  the  destruction  of  the 
great  cross  that  stood  outside  of  the  upper  gate  of  the 
city.1  The  letter  has  been  preserved,2  and  is  ex- 
ceedingly creditable  to  the  Swiss  radicals.  At  the 
outset,  Grebel  makes  mention  of  Munzer's  tracts  and 
says  that  he  and  his  associates  have  been  greatly 
rejoiced  to  find  one  in  agreement  with  themselves, 
one  who  ventures  to  show  evangelical  preachers  their 
lack  in  reference  to  vital  points,  and  exhorts  him 
fearlessly  to  preach  the  divine  word.  He  also,  at  the 
same  time,  notices  some  matters  in  which  he  and  his 
friends  differ  from  Munzer."  We  understand,"  he 
writes,  "  that  you  have  translated  the  mass-service 

the  language  of  the  people.  Crowds  from  the  country  around 
came  to  hear  him  preach.  In  the  summer  of  1524,  he  denounced 
image  worship  so  vehemently  that  some  of  his  hearers  soon  found 
afield   for  iconoclastic  labors. 

1  Fiisslin,  "  Beytrcige  ii.  8.  38. 

2  See  Cornelius,  Geschichte  d.  Munsterischen  Aufruhrs,  ii.  s.  240- 
247. 


86  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

and  introduced  new  German  hymns.  This  is  not 
well,  since  we  do  not  find  in  the  New  Testament  any- 
teaching,  or  example,  in  reference  to  singing.  If 
Munzer  and  Carlstadt  are  supported  by  tithes  and 
rents,  Grebel  exhorts  them  to  give  up  their  livings. 
"  You  know,"  he  said,  "  how  a  shepherd  should  be 
supported.  We  expect  much  of  Jacob  Strauss,1 
and  others  like  him  whom  the  Wittenberg  doctors 
lightly  esteem."  He  also  regrets  that  Munzer  had 
set  up  tables  of  the  law.  "  For  this,"  he  says,  "  we 
find  no  Scripture  nor  example  in  the  New  Testament. 
In  the  Old  Testament  there  was  the  outward  repre- 
sentation, but  in  the  New  the  writing  is  on  the  fleshly 
tables  of  the  heart."  He  expects  him  farther  to  hold 
the  word  of  God,  and  make  a  Christian  church  with 
the  help  of  Christ  and  his  people,  as  laid  down  in 
Matthew  18.  As  to  the  sword,  it  is  not  to  be  used  to 
defend  either  the  gospel  or  those  who  receive  it. 
Concerning  Munzer 's  view  in  reference  to  baptism, 
they  desired  further  information.  Concerning  the 
view  held  by  himself  and  his  companions,  Grebel  says, 
"  From  the  Scriptures  we  learn  that  baptism  signi- 
fies that  by  faith  and  the  blood  of  Christ  our  sins 
have  been  washed  away,  that  we  have  died  to  sin,  and 
walk  in  newness  of  life  ;  that  assurance  of  salvation  is 

1  He   was   a   preacher  in   Eisenach,  and   an  opponent   of  the 
tithe  system. 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT.  87 

through  the  inner  baptism,  faith,  so  that  the  water 
does  not  confirm  and  increase  the  faith,  as  the  Wit- 
tenberg theologians  say,  nor  does  it  save."  Concern- 
ing infant  baptism,  Grebel  adds  :  "  We  believe  that 
the  Scriptures  teach  that  all  children,  who  have  not 
arrived  at  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  are  saved 
by  the  sufferings  of  Christ."  Infant  baptism,  there- 
fore, is  declared  to  be  a  blasphemous  offence  against 
all  Scripture,  and  in  reference  to  his  own  practice, * 
which  was  to  baptize  every  two  or  three  months 
those  born  in  this  interval,  Miinzer  received  the  fol- 
lowing delicate  hint,  though  of  course  unintentional ; 
"  Since  you  have  expressed  yourself  against  that 
infant  baptism,  we  hope  you  do  not  sin  against  the 
eternal  word,  wisdom,  and  command  of  God,  accord- 
ing to  which  believers  only  are  to  be  baptized,  and 
you  decline  to  baptize  infants."  In  conclusion,  the 
Zurich  radicals  beg  Miinzer  and  Carlstadt  to  regard 
them  as  brethren,  and  to  write  to  them. 

The  messenger  who  was  to  carry  the  letter  was 
delayed,  and  Grebel  added  a  second  letter, 2  in  which 
he  informed  Miinzer  that  he  had  written  to  Luther, 
and  that  Andrew  Castelberger  had  written  to  Carl- 
stadt.    He  also  referred  to  a  tract  of  Luther's  against 

1  Stated  in  conversation  with  Oekolarapadius,  at  Basel  late  in 
the  autumn  of  1524,     Herzog.  Das  Leben  J.  Oekolampads  i.  s.  302. 

2  Cornelius,  Geschichte  des  Milnsterischen  Avfruhrs,  ii.  s.  247. 


<5»  THE  ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

Munzer,  probably  the  "  Letter  to  the  Saxon  Princes 
concerning  the  Factious  Spirits,"  which  had  reached 
Zurich  since  the  first  letter  was  written.  Eeferring  to 
himself  and  his  companions,  Grebel  says  that  they 
were  denounced  from  the  pulpits  as  devils  appearing 
as  angels  of  light ;  and  that  they  anticipated  greater 
persecution.  "  Pray  for  us,"  he  adds.  This  letter 
was  not  signed  by  the  same  persons  as  the  other. 
Instead  of  Baur  we  find  John  Brodli1  and  Hans 
Huiuf  of  Halle,  who,  it  is  thought,  was  the  medium 
of  communication  between  the  radicals  in  Saxony 
and  those  in  Switzerland. 

In  a  postscript,  it  is  stated  that  copies  of  these  let- 
ters were  not  retained,  and  as  the  letters  themselves, 
in  Grebel's  hand-writing,  are  among  the  Vadian 
manuscripts  in  the  library  at  St.  Gall,  it  is  probable 
either  that  for  some  reason  they  were  not  sent,  or 
that  they  failed  to  reach  Munzer,  and  so  were  re- 
turned to  their  author.  Indeed,  at  the  time  when  the 
letters  were  written  Munzer  was  no  longer  inAlstedt. 
The  situation  there  had  become  unfavorable  for  his 
plans,  and  about  the  middle  of  August,  1524,  he  had 
removed  to  Miihlhausen.     But  there,  also,  opposition 

1  Brodli  or  Brodlein,  who,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  time, 
translated  his  name  into  Latin,  and  called  himself  Paniculus, 
comes  before  us  first  in  1523,  as  pastor  at  Quarten  on  Lake  Wal- 
lenstadt.     He  was  now  an  assistant  to  the  pastor  at  Zollikon. 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT.  89 

was  soon  manifested,  and  September  27,  three  weeks 
after  the  date  of  Grebel's  first  letter,  Munzer  was 
ordered  by  the  Council  of  the  city  to  leave  the  place. 
What  he  had  learned  concerning  the  Swiss  radicals, 
doubtless,  led  him  to  make  his  way  into  Switzerland. 
He  went  by  way  of  Nuremberg  and  Basel.  In  Basel 
he  had  an  interview  with  Oecolampadius  in  which  the 
expression  of  his  views  was  characterized  by  modera- 
tion. l  Munzer  tarried  only  a  short  time  in  Basel, 
but  made  his  way  to  the  village  of  Griessen  in  Klett- 
gau,  where  he  spent  eight  weeks,  probably  the  months 
of  October  and  November,  as  we  know  from  the 
Muhlhausen  Chronicle 2  that  he  returned  to  Miihl- 
hausen,  December  15.  Here,  Bullinger  says, 3  Mun- 
zer was  visited  by  Grebel,  Mantz,  and  others,  but  no 
record  of  the  conference  has  been  preserved.  Nor 
do  we  find  that  the  leaders  of  the  Swiss  radicals  had 
any  subsequent  dealings  with  him.  As  Grebel's  let- 
ter shows,  he  and  his  associates  were  not  in  agree- 
ment with  Munzer  in  reference  to  baptism.  They 
did  not  believe  in  the  use  of  the  sword  as  did  he. 
Doubtless,  they  now  found  that  in  purpose  they  and 
the  Saxon  Eeformer  differed  widely.  Munzer 's  aims 
were  social  and  political  chiefly.     He  would  right  the 

1  Herzog  Das  Lebcn  J.   Oekolampads,  i.  s.  301-303. 

2  Schmidt,  Zeitschr.  fur  Qeschichtswissenschaft,  iv.  s.  368. 

3  Heformationsgeschichte,  i.  b.  224. 


90  THE   ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

wrongs  of  the  oppressed  peasants,  and  with  this  end 
in  view  he  had  brought  with  him  certain  u  articles,"1 
probably  the  celebrated  Twelve  Articles, 2  into  which 
the  demands  of  the  peasants  had  been  compressed. 
But  Grebel  and  his  friends,  who  were  also  in  sympa- 
thy with  the  oppressed  peasants,  would  bring  about 
a  better  state  of  things,  not  by  revolution,  but  by  re- 
storing primitive  Christianity :  and  so,  believing  in 
different  methods  of  accomplishing  the  great  end 
they  had  in  view,  they  seem  to  have  separated  with- 
out forming  a  closer  alliance,  and  took  the  different 
paths  they  had  already  marked  out. 

Carlstadt,  3  with  whom  Grebel  had  also  been  in 

1  Seidemann,  Thomas  Munzer,  s.  152. 

2  Zimmermann,  Allgemeine  Qeschichte  des  grossen  Bauern- 
krieges,  2te  Theil,  s.  109,  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  Twelve  Articles 
were  written  by  Munzer. 

3  Andrew  Rudolph  Bodenstein,  commonly  known  as  Carlstadt 
from  his  birth-place,  was  some  years  older  than  Luther.  Con- 
cerning the  place  of  his  education,  it  is  only  known  that  it  was  at 
some  University  outside  of  Germany.  He  was  Baccalaureus  bib- 
licus  when  he  came  to  Wittenberg  in  1504.  In  1508,  he  received 
a  minor  ecclesiastical  position  in  Wittenberg.  In  1510,  he  was 
made  a  Doctor  of  Theology  ;  and,  in  1513,  he  was  elected  Professor 
of  Theology  in  the  University.  He  visited  Rome  in  1515,  where 
he  remained  a  year.  Returning  to  Wittenberg,  he  vehemently 
attacked  Luther  at  the  beginning  of  his  reformatory  work,  but 
afterward  became  one  of  his  most  ardent  supporters.  Dorner, 
Qeschichte  d.prot.  Theologie,  s.  123,  says,  "  By  means  of  his  treatise, 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT.  91 

correspondence,  was  banished  from  Saxony  in  Sep- 
tember, 1524.  Not  long  after,  a  messenger  dispatched 
by  him,  Dr.  Gerhard  Westerburg  of  Cologne,  ap- 
peared in  Zurich.  He  brought  a  letter  and  a  pack- 
age of  tracts  from  Carlstadt,  and  during  his  stay  of 
six  days  gave  the  Grebel  party  a  full  account  of  Carl- 
stadt's  contest  with  Luther  at  Jena.  Soon  we  hear 
of  Carlstadt  at  Basel,  whence,  during  the  first  half 
of  October,  he  proceeded  to  Strasburg,  carrying  with 
him  six  or  seven  tracts  which  he  had  printed  in  Ba- 
sel, and  of  which  the  larger  number  had  reference  to 
the  Lord's  Supper.  In  one  of  these  tracts  he  dis- 
cussed infant  baptism,  which  he  would  have  set  aside. 
These  writings  attracted  great  attention,  as  they 
were  widely  circulated,  and  were  hailed  with  especial 
delight  by  Grebel  and  his  friends.  The  Zurich  Coun- 
cil forbade  their  sale,  though  Zwingli  advised  a  dif- 
ferent course,  and  even  asked  that  nothing  should  be 
done  to  hinder  their  circulation.     Later,  when  Carl- 

Libellus  de  canonicis  scripturis  (August,  1520)  he,  in  eloquent 
words,  contributed  not  a  little  to  enforce  the  duty  of  universal 
acquaintance  with  the  Scriptures,  and  thus  to  prepare  the  way  for 
Luther's  translation.''  On  the  appearance  of  the  Zwickau  pro- 
phets in  Wittenberg,  in  December,  1521,  Carlstadt  was  not  only 
ready  to  welcome  them,  but  to  admit  their  claims.  He  laid  aside 
the  title  of  Doctor,  and  gave  himself  the  name  of  "  Neighbor  An- 
drew." But  he  seems  to  have  adopted  more  moderate  views,  and 
at  the  beginning  of  1523  he  was  still  lecturing  in  the  University. 


92  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

stadt  was  in  Zurich,  lie  called  on  Zwingli,  but  the 
chief  purpose  of  his  presence  in  the  place  was  to  make 
the  acquaintance  of  his  new  "  brethren." 

A  friend  of  Munzer  and  Carlstadt,  Martin  Cella- 
rius,  well  known  as  an  associate  of  the  Zwickau  pro- 
phets, was  in  Zurich  about  this  time,  certainly  pre- 
vious to  1525.  He  avoided  a  conference  with  Zwingli, 
it  is  said,  but  had  repeated  interviews  with  the  radi- 
cals, and  was  in  agreement  with  them  in  their  oppo- 
sition to  infant  baptism,  oaths,  etc. 

The  year  1523  was  one  of  great  literary  activity  with  Carlstadt. 
In  September,  he  left  Wittenberg  for  Orlamunde,  where  he  re- 
mained preaching  until  he  was  compelled  to  give  up  his  pastorate 
there  in  the  summer  of  1524.  In  August,  he  was  in  Terra.  In  Sep- 
tember, he  returned  to  Orlamunde,  and  was  banished  September 
17.  At  the  end  of  September  or  early  in  October,  he  left  Orla- 
munde, went  first  to  Rothenburg  on  the  Tauber,  and  then  to  Stras- 
burg.  See  J'ager,  Andreas  Bodenstein  von  Carlstadt,  Stuttgart,  1856. 
1  Cellarius  was  a  native  of  Stuttgart.  He  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Melanchthon  at  Tubingen,  and  followed  him  to  Witten- 
berg. When  the  Zwickau  prophets  appeared  in  Wittenberg  he 
was  among  their  opponents.  But  it  happened  to  him,  as  later  to 
Bernhard  Rothman  in  Miinster,  tha^  he  soon  went  over  to  the 
opposite  party.  When  compelled,  with  Stubner,  to  leave  Wit- 
tenberg, he  went  to  Kemberg.  In  1525,  he  went  into  Prussia 
where  he  was  imprisoned  for  a  short  time  He  was  then  full  of 
hope  concerning  the  speedy  establishment  of  the  New  Jerusalem. 
In  later  years,  he  returned  to  the  views  of  the  Reformers,  and  in 
1536  he  was  made  professor  of  philosophy,  afterward  of  theology, 
at  Basel  in  Switzerland.  He  was  learned  in  the  Hebrew,  Syriac, 
and  Chaldee  languages.     His  death  occurred  in  1560. 


CHAPTER  V. 

ANABAPTISM  INSTITUTED. 

Hitherto,  in  his  sermons  and  addresses,  Zwingli 
had  referred  to  the  radicals  in  terms  that  could  not 
be  misunderstood.  He  now  was  even  more  direct  in 
his  assaults  upon  them.  In  a  tract l  published  in 
December,  1524,  he  denounced  their  views  as  those 
of  men  who  were  rather  puffed  up  by  their  conceits 
in  reference  to  the  gospel,  than  inflamed  by  love. 
Before  the  appearance  of  this  tract  Grebel  received 
information,  concerning  Zwingli's  purpose ;  and,  De- 
cember 15,  he  wrote  to  "Vadian  that  as  soon  as  the 
tract  appeared  he  would  send  him  a  copy.  Vadian 
replied,  December  28,  urging  Grebel  to  moderate  his 
zeal  and  maintain  friendly  relations  with  Zwingli ; 
but  to  a  like  exhortation  from  the  same  source  Grebel 
had  already  replied  that  he  must  be  true  to  his  con- 
victions of  duty,  and  such  was  his  opinion  still. 

Zwingli's  tract  soon  appeared,  and  made  still  wider 
the  breach  between  the  conservative  and  radical  Re- 
formers.    At  this  time  the  matter  of  infant  baptism 

1   Welche  Ursach  geben  zu  Aufruhrcn. 

93 


94  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

was  prominent  in  the  thoughts  of  both  parties,  and 
conflict  was  not  unfrequently  the  result.  Megander, 
one  of  the  Zurich  preachers,  was  defending  the  prac- 
tice in  a  sermon,  when  Jacob  Hottinger  interrupted 
him.  At  Zollikon,  Brodli  had  a  heated  discussion 
with  an  assistant  from  the  Cathedral  in  Zurich.  About 
New  Year's  Day,  1525,  Grebel's  wife  gave  birth  to 
a  daughter.  A  week  after,  Grebe  lwrote  to  Vadian  : 
"  The  child's  name  is  Rachel :  she  has  not  yet  been 
baptized  in  the  Romish  bath." 

Indeed,  so  strong  now  was  the  opposition  to  infant 
baptism,  that  it  was  thought  best  by  the  Council  to 
have  the  subject  considered  in  a  public  discussion. 
A  call  was  accordingly  issued  for  such  a  discussion 
on  Tuesday,  January  17,  1525,  in  the  Council  Hall 
in  Zurich. 1  Before  the  discussion,  however,  Grebel 
addressed  a  letter  to  the  Council  in  which  he  ex- 
pressed a  desire  that  the  discussion  should  be  in 
writing,  and  on  the  basis  of  the  Scriptures ;  but  the 
members  of  the  Council  withheld  their  assent. 

The  call  for  the  discussion  was  announced  from 
the  Cathedral  pulpit  in  Zurich  on  the  Sunday  that 
preceded  the  meeting.  It  was  said  that  among  others 
Hubmeier  would  be  invited.  It  is  believed,  however, 
that  he  was  not.     It  is  certain  that  had  he  appeared 

1  Egli,   Actcnsamlung  z.   Gesch.  d.   Zurcher  Reformation,  270, 
Nr.  618. 


ANABAPTISM    INSTITUTED.  95 

he  would  have  taken  a  place  with  the  opposition  ;  for 
only  a  day  before  the  discussion,  in  a  letter  to  Oeco- 
lampadius,  '  he  expressed  very  decidedly  his  objec- 
tions to  infant  baptism.  "  I  believe,  yes,  I  know," 
he  said,  "  that  Christianity  will  not  prosper  unless  bap- 
tism and  the  Lord's  Supper  are  brought  back  to  their 
original  purity." 

The  prominent  leaders  of  the  opponents  of  infant 
baptism  at  the  discussion  were  Grebel,  Mantz,  and 
Beublin.  Andrew  Castelberger  and  Hans  Brodli  also 
were  present,  and  two  others,  Ludwig  Hetzer  and 
George  Blaurock,  who  had  recently  united  their  for- 
tunes with  those  of  the  radical  party.  Hetzer,  as  we 
have  seen,was  present  as  a  friend  of  Zwingli  at  the  Sec- 
ond Zurich  Discussion,  in  October,  1523.  He  remained 
in  Zurich,  still  on  friendly  terms  with  Zwingli,  though 
sympathizing  more  and  more  with  the  radicals,  until 
the  middle  of  June  following,  when  he  made  his  way 
to  Augsburg,  bearing  with  him  a  letter  of  introduc- 
tion from  Zwingli  to  Frosch,  one  of  the  pastors  in  that 
city,  commending  him  as  an  exceedingly  learned 
young  man.  His  translation  of  Bugenhagen's  Com- 
mentary on  the  Ten  Epistles  of  Paul,  which  he  pub- 
lished about  this  time,  he  dedicated  to  Andrew  Kern, 
a  wealthy  and  influential  citizen  of  Augsburg,  through 

1  Zwingli,  Werke,  ii.  s.  338. 


96  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

whom  he  made  many  valuable  friends.  But  there 
were  many  adversaries  in  Augsburg,  and  late  in  the 
year  he  made  his  way  back  to  Zurich,  where,  though 
he  revisited  Zwingli,  and  recounted  his  Bavarian  ex- 
periences, he  threw  himself  into  the  radical  move- 
ment. 

Of  Blaurock,  we  read  for  the  first  time  in  connec- 
tion with  this  discussion  of  January  17,  1525.  Oi 
his  previous  life,  we  only  know  that  he  had  been  a 
monk.  On  account  of  his  oratorical  gifts,  he  was 
called  the  second  Paul ;  and  such  was  his  fiery  ardor 
and  his  great  executive  ability,  that  he  henceforth 
held  a  prominent  position  in  the  radical  party.  "  In- 
fant baptism,"  he  said,  "  is  an  invention  of  men,  and 
whatever  is  from  men  is  from  the  devil."  Without 
doubt,  Blaurock  had  joined  the  party  only  a  short  time 
before  the  discussion,  otherwise  he  would  have  made 
himself  known.  He  was  not  a  man  who  would  re- 
main, or  could  be  kept,  in  the  background. 

Bullinger,  the  historian,  was  at  that  time  a  school- 
master at  Cappel,  and  his  account  of  the  discussion l 
is  that  of  an  eye-witness.  The  opponents  of  infant 
baptism,  he  says,  maintained  that  infants  can  neither 
exercise  faith  nor  understand  what  baptism  signifies  : 
that  baptism  is  to  be  administered  to  believers  only, 

1  Beformationsgeschichte,  i.  s.  238. 


ANABAPTISM   INSTITUTED.  97 

to  those  to  whom  the  gospel  has  already  been  preached, 
who  comprehend  it,  desire  to  be  baptized,  and  hence- 
forth to  walk  in  newness  of  life.  Such  is  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Gospels  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  In 
his  reply,  Zwingli  used  the  arguments  he  had  previ- 
ously brought  forward.  Infant  baptism,  he  said, 
takes  the  place  of  circumcision.  In  1  Gorinthians 
7: 14,  Paul  speaks  of  the  children  of  Christian  parents 
as  holy,  (dye a).  The  Council  listened  to  these  and  like 
arguments  and  decided  that  the  victory  was  with 
Zwingli.  On  the  following  day l  a  mandate  was  is- 
sued requiring  those  who  had  unbaptized  children  to 
have  them  baptized  during  the  following  week,  or  be 
banished. 2  It  was  also  ordered  that  in  Zollikon  the 
font  which  had  been  thrown  down  in  the  preceding 
summer  should  be  repaired,  and  that  inquiry  should  be 
made  concerning  the  guilty  parties.  Three  days  later, 
January  21,  they  directed  their  attention  to  the  lead- 
ers of  the  radical  party.  Grebel  and  Mantz  were  or- 
dered to  abstain  from  further  discussion,  while  their 
associates  who  were  not  natives  of  the  Canton,  name- 
ly, Keublin,  pastor  at  Wytikon,  Brodli,  assistant  at 
Zollikon,  Ludwig  Hetzer,  and  Andrew  Castelberger, 
were  required  to  leave  the  country  within  the  week 

1  Egli,  Actensammlung,  z.  Oesck.  d.    Ziircher  Reformation,  275, 
Nr.  621,  also  622. 

2  Fiisslin,  Beytrage,  i.  s.  189-201. 

5 


98  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

following.1  Keublin  and  Brodli  went  to  Schaffhau- 
sen  and  Waldshut ;  Hetzer  returned  to  Augsburg. 
Castelberger,  on  account  of  illness,  was  allowed  to 
remain  in  Zurich  one  month,  but  was  forbidden  to 
hold  religious  meetings.2 

This  last  injunction  was  not  without  significance. 
It  was  in  these  private  gatherings  especially  that  the 
seeds  of  the  radical  movement  had  been  sown.  Here 
the  "  brethren "  assembled  for  mutual  edification. 
The  exercises  were  of  the  most  familiar  character. 
After  a  season  of  prayer,  the  Scriptures  were  read, 
Grebel  and  Mantz  translating  from  the  original  He- 
brew and  Greek  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  were 
unacquainted  with  the  ancient  tongues.  The  mean- 
ing of  the  sacred  word  was  then  unfolded  under  the 
guidance,  as  it  was  believed,  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Many 
of  the  "  brethren  "  were  from  the  humbler  classes  of 
society ;  but  that  among  them  there  were  soon  de- 
veloped not  a  few  who  were  mighty  in  the  Scriptures, 
we  may  easily  conceive. 

The  decision  of  the  Council  with  reference  to  those 
who  had  neglected  to  have  their  children  baptized 
failed  to  secure  submission  to  the  repudiated  ordi- 
nance.    The  parents  had  acted  from  convictions   of 

1  Fiisslin,  Beytrage,  iv-  s.  251,  252.  Egli,  Actensammlung \  278,  Nr. 
624. 

2  Egli,  Actensammlung,  279,  Nr.  639. 


ANABArTISM    INSTITUTED.  99 

duty  which  they  were  unwilling  to  surrender.  "  We 
must  obey  God  rather  than  men,"  they  said.  Ac- 
cordingly, February  1,  a  second  mandate  followed, 
requiring  the  magistrates  to  arrest  and  imprison 
those  pastors  who  refused  to  comply.  It  was  also 
enacted  that,  unless  severe  illness  prevented,  child- 
ren should  be  brought  to  the  church  for  baptism  as 
soon  as  they  were  born.  Thus  infant  baptism,  which 
hitherto  had  been  a  law  of  the  church,  became  an 
ordinance  of  the  civil  power.1 

It  is  at  this  time  that  we  find  the  first  reference  to 
anabaptism  in  the  history  of  the  reform  movement  in 
Switzerland.  Very  naturally  those  who  denied  the 
validity  of  infant  baptism  were  led  to  consider  their 
own  duty  in  reference  to  the  Scriptural  command 
concerning  baptism.  At  one  of  the  meetings  of  the 
"  brethren "  at  Zurich,  according  to  a  Moravian 
chronicle,2  all  bowed  in  prayer  before  God  that  he 
would  grant  them  power  to  fulfill  the  divine  will 
Blaurock,  thereupon,  arose  and  asked  Grebel  to  bap- 
tize him  upon  his  confession  of  faith.  Again  he  fell 
upon  his  knees,  and  Grebel  baptized  him.  All  the 
rest  present  were  then  baptized  by  Blaurock.  The 
celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  followed.  At  the 
house  of  Rudolph  Thomam,  at  Zollikon  a  like   scene 

1  Egli,  Actensammlung,  281,  Nr.  631,  632. 

2  Cornelius  Geschichte  des  Miinsterischen  Aufruhrs,  ii.  s.  26,  27. 


100  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

was  enacted  not  long  after.  There  was  a  meeting  of 
the  "  brethren  "  there.  After  they  had  long  read 
and  conversed  together,  John  Brubbach  of  Zurich 
arose  and  wept  aloud,  saying  that  he  was  a  great 
sinner,  and  desiring  the  others  to  pray  for  him.  Here- 
upon Blaurock  asked  him  if  he  desired  the  grace  of 
God.  He  replied,  '  Yes.'  Then  Mantz  rose  and  said, 
"  Who  will  forbid  me  to  baptize  this  person  ?"  '  No 
one,'  replied  Blaurock.  He  then  took  a  dipper  of 
water  and  baptized  him  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit.  Then  Hottinger  rose 
and  desired  baptism,  and  Mantz  baptized  him."  l 
In  other  assemblies  in  and  around  Zollikon  similar 
cases  occurred,  and  the  spread  of  anabaptism  was 
both  rapid  and  extensive. 

As  yet  no  question  in  reference  to  the  act  of  bap- 
tism seems  to  have  been  raised,  and  Grebel  and  his 
associates  administered  the  ordinance  as  they  had 
been  accustomed  to  see  it  administered  in  the  churches. 

It  has  indeed  been  claimed  that  anabaptism  was 
instituted  at  an  earlier  period  in  the  radical  move- 
ment in  Switzerland.  In  all  the  public  discussions, 
however,  in  matters  pertaining  to  baptism,  mention 
was  made  only  of  opposition  to  infant  baptism.  It 
is  true  that  Zwingli,  writing  a  little  more  than  two 

1  Fiisslin,  Bcytrage  i.  s.  265.  See  also  Egli,  Actensammlung \  2S2, 
284,  Nr.  636. 


no 

as 


ANABAPTISM   INSTITUTED.  101 

years  later,'  says,1  that  the  report  of  the  first  re- 
baptism  was  received  a  few  days  after  the  Second 
Zurich  Discussion,  accordingly  in  the  summer  of 
1524 ;  but  the  statement  is  connected  with  events 
which  evidently  belong  to  a  later  date.  So,  also, 
when  Bullinger 2  in  his  account  of  the  discussion  of 
January  17,  1525,  represents  the  opponents  of  in- 
fant baptism  as  saying  :  u  Infant  baptism  is  of 
value,  and  one  must  be  rebaptized,"  he  seems, 
Heberle3  suggests,  to  have  given  expression  to 
views  which  only  a  little  later  were  generally  adopted 
by  the  radicals. 

The  mandate  of  February  1  was  at  once  enforced, 
and  in  Zollikon  twenty-four  of  those  who  had  refused  to 
have  their  children  baptized— and  together  with  Mantz 
and  Blaurock,  it  would  seem— were  arrested  and 
thrown  into  the  Augustinian  cloister.  At  the  exami- 
nation that  followed,  many  facts  of  interest  in  refer- 
ence to  the  movement  were  placed  on  record,  and  have 
been  preserved.  February  7,  the  imprisoned  Anabap- 
tists, with  the  exception  of  Mantz  and  Blaurock,  were 
required  to  take  a  common  oath  to  pay  the  costs  of 
their  imprisonment,  and  a  fine  of  one  thousand  gul- 

i  Zwingli  WerJce,  iii.  s.  363. 

2  Beformationsgeschichte,  i.  s.  238. 

8  Jahrbiicher  far  Deutsche  Theologie,  1858,  8.  270. 


102  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

den.1      On    the   following   day   they  were   released 
and  returned  to  Zollikon. 

Mantz,  at  his  examination,  refused  to  abandon  his 
Anabaptist  views,  and  said  he  should  continue  to 
baptize.  If  the  members  of  the  Council  could  not 
allow  him  this  privilege,  they  could  banish  him. 
He  also  stated,  it  is  claimed,  that  there  was  more 
behind  baptism  [anabaptism]  which  was  not  yet  dis- 
closed. One  would  neither  hear  nor  know  anything 
of  baptism  than  that  at  last  it  would  overthrow  the 
magistracy. 2  Fiisslin  says  it  is  clear  from  these 
words  that  the  leaders  of  the  Anabaptists  designed 
to  overthrow  the  magistracy.  This  interpretation  is 
contrary  to  Mantz's  testimony  at  a  subsequent 
examination,3  at  which  he  insisted  that  he  meant 
in  what  he  had  said  concerning  the  magistracy  that 
no  Christian  could  be  a  magistrate,  and  that  no  one 
should  inflict  capital  punishment,  since  from  the 
Scriptures  it  could  not  be  shown  that  it  is  permitted. 
Blaurock  said  he  was  the  first  to  be  baptized;  that 
Zwingli  did  violence  to  the  Scriptures,  and  falsified 
the  same  more  than  the  Pope;  and  he  offered  to  make 

i  Fiisslin,  Beytrage  ii.  s.  336-337.     Egli,  Adensammlung,  286 
Nr.  637. 

2  Fiisslin   Beytrage  ii.  s.  342,  343.     Egli,  Adensammlung,  289' 
Nr.  646.  6. 

3  Fiisslin,  Beytrage,  i.  s.  254,  255. 


ANABAFTISM    INSTITUTED.  103 

his  statement  good  before  the  Council.  A  decision 
both  in  the  case  of  Mantz  and  Blaurock  was  announced 
February  18.  The  former  was  to  be  released  after 
obtaining  bail  and  payment  of  the  costs,  and  he  was 
informed,  that  if  he  should  be  arrested  again,  he 
would  be  thrown  into  the  tower  and  kept  on  bread 
and  water  until  he  retracted. 1  Blaurock  was  to 
be  released  after  taking  an  oath.  Mantz's  sentence 
was  confirmed  February  25,  but  neither  he  nor 
Blaurock  seem  to  have  been  released. 

But  peace  was  not  restored.  The  opposition  which 
the  radicals  encountered  only  inflamed  their  zeal. 
Suddenly  a  crowd  of  men,  as  if  prepared  for  a  jour- 
ney, made  their  appearance  in  Zurich.  Halting  in 
the  market-place,  they  preached  the  necessity  of  con- 
version, of  a  new  life  of  holiness  and  brotherly  lovo 
The  old  dragon  and  his  heads,  meaning  Zwingli  and 
his  associates,  they  addressed  in  the  language  of  pro- 
phecy, foretelling  the  destruction  of  the  city  if  the 
people  still  refused  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  the  Lord. 
"Wo,  wo  to  Zurich,"  they  cried;  and  the  wail  that 
went  up  from  the  market-place  was  echoed  through 
all  the  streets  of  the  city. 

Shortly  after  there  was  a  great  gathering  of  the 
Anabaptists  in  Zollikon.     Blaurock  preached  morn- 

1  Filsslin,  Beytriige,  ii.  s.  343,  Egli,  Actensammlwig,  289.  Nr.  466. 


104  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZEKLAND. 

ing  and  afternoon,  and  then  baptized.  Here  Blau- 
rock  met  Henry  Aberli  in  Jacob  Hottinger's  house. 
"  Brother  Henry,"  said  Blaurock,  "  blessed  be  God 
that  we  all  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  that  faith 
abide.  Brother  Henry,  are  you  convinced  that  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  suffered  for  us,  and  that  what  is 
written  concerning  him  is  true  ?  "  He  answered  " Yes," 
and  Blaurock  sprinkled  him  with  a  handful  of  water, 
saying,  I  baptize  thee,  etc.i 

Meanwhile  Grebel  had  made  his  way  to  Schaff- 
hausen.  There,  with  the  banished  Brodli  and  Keub- 
lin,  we  find  him  in  friendly  intercourse  with  Dr.  Se- 
bastian Hofmeister.  It  was  at  this  time,  so  far  as 
we  can  ascertain,  that  the  customary  mode  of  bap- 
tism was  first  called  in  question  by  the  Swiss  Ana- 
baptists. Kessler  says  :  J  "  Wolfgang  Ulimann,3 
on  the  journey  to  Schaffhausen,  met  Conrad  Grebel, 
who  instructed  him  so  highly  in  the  knowledge  of 
Anabaptism  that  he  would  not  be  sprinkled  out  of 
a  dish,  but  was  drawn  under  and  covered  over  with 

1  Egli,  Die  Ziiricher  Wiedertavfer,  s.  27,  Actensammlung,  s.  297, 
Nr.  674. 

a  Salbata,  i.  s.  266. 

3  The  son  of  a  prominent  man  in  St.  Gall,  he  had  withdrawn 
from  the  monastery  in  Chur,  and  returned  to  his  home,  where  he 
commenced  to  learn  a  trade.  For  awhile  he  was  of  great  assist- 
ance to  Kessler,  the  evangelical  pastor  in  St.  Gall,  but  by  the  in- 
fhience  of  Hochrutiner  he  was  won  to  the  Anabaptist  ranks. 


ANABAPTISM   INSTITUTED.  105 

the  waters  of  the  Rhine."  x  March  18,  Ulimann  re- 
appeared in  St.  Gall.  About  the  same  time  Grebel 
seems  to  have  returned  to  Zurich. 

When  it  became  known  to  the  Council  in  Zurich 
that  anabaptism  had  again  been  administered  in  Zol- 
likon,  the  arrest  of  the  guilty  parties  was  ordered, 
and,  March  11,  a  mandate  was  issued  imposing  a  fine 
of  a  silver  mark  on  those  who  had  been  baptized  since 
the   examination   in   the   Augustinian   cloister,  and 

JThe  Independent,  in  its  issue  of  March   30,  1882,  questioned 
the  correctness  of  this  translation  in  so  far  as  the  statement  that 
Grebel  "  instructed  Ulimann  so  highly  in  Anabaptism  "  is  con- 
cerned.    The  original  is  as  follows  :  "  Wolfgang   Uliman,  .  .  .  ist 
er  uffderfartzu  Schaffhaussen  an  den  Cunradt  Grebel  gestossenund 
by  ihm  in  so  hoche  erkantnus  des  widertouffens  kommen,  das  er  nitt 
wolt  mitt  ainer  schussel  mitt  wasser  allain  bcgossen,   sunder  gantz 
nackend  und  bloss,  hinuss  in  dem  Rhin  von  dem    Grebel  under  ge- 
triickt  und  bedeckt  werdenr     As  the  Independent  questioned  the 
correctness  of  the  translation  given  above,  a  copy  of  the  original 
with  the  translation,  and  the  Independent's  objection  to  the  same, 
was  sent  to  Prof.  W.  D.  Whitney  of  Yale  College.     In  reply  he 
wrote  :  "  Whether,  in  the  dialect  of  your  quotation  by  may  have 
more  of  its  ordinary  English  sense  than  the  proper  one  of  Ger- 
man bei  is  more  than  I  can  say  ;  but  as  you  do  not  claim  it,  I 
presume  that  is  not  the  case.     In  default  of  that,  the  matter  ap- 
pears to  be  one  of  deduction  from  the  circumstances  of  the  case 
and,  so  far  as  I  know  and  can  judge  them,  your  view  seems  to  me 
the  more  natural  and  plausible  one,  and  the  objection  made  to  it 
somewhat  forced."     It  would  be  difficult  for  any  one  to  believe 
that  Ulimann  instructed  himself. 

5* 


106  THE  ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

threatening  those,  who  should  thenceforward  allow 
themselves  to  be  baptized,  with  banishment.1  Offi- 
cers were  sent  to  Zollikon  to  publish  the  mandate,  and 
it  was  rigorously  enforced.  Of  those  who  were  ar- 
rested some  renounced  anabaptism,  and  returned  to 
their  homes.  Others  were  steadfast.  Ruotsch  Hot- 
tinger  said,  "  What  God  had  placed  in  his  heart  no 
man  could  take  away."  Gabriel  Giger  of  St.  Gall, 
whom  Grebel,  a  little  while  before,  had  baptized  in 
Mantz's  house  in  Zurich,  said,  "  What  God  commanded 
he  would  do."  Among  those  who  refused  to  submit 
were  Jacob  Hottinger,  Mantz,  and  Blaurock.  A  let- 
ter has  been  preserved,  written  by  one  of  the  pris- 
oners in  the  name  of  his  associates,  and  addressed  to 
the  "  brethren."  This  imprisonment,  it  said,  was  a 
trial  by  God  whether  they  would  remain  steadfast  in 
him.  The  brethren  at  home  should  also  remain  firm 
and  fear  neither  tyranny  nor  the  sword,  since  Christ 
with  his  truth  was  with  them.  When  they  came  to- 
gether they  should  implore  God  to  send  them  one  who 
would  teach  and  baptize.  In  addressing  the  letter, 
the  writer  added  the  request  that  his  wife  would  send 
him  a  copy  of  the  hymn  "Christ  is  arisen."2  On 
every  side  the  prayer  was  heard,  "  0  God,  give  us 

1  Egli,  Actensammlung,  s.  295,  Nr.  663. 

2  Egli,  Die   Zdricher   WiederUiufer,  s.  29,  Actensammlung,   300, 
Nr.  674. 


ANABAPTISM   INSTITUTED.  107 

fearless  prophets,  who  will  faithfully  preach  thine 
everlasting  word  without  admixture  -of  human 
reason." 

March  20,  Grebel,  Mantz,  Blaurock,  and  some 
others,  were  summoned  before  the  three  Zurich  pas- 
tors, Zwingli,  Myconius  and  Leo  Jud,  and  six  mem- 
bers of  the  Council,  and  a  second  discussion  was  held, 
though  with  no  better  results  than  at  the  first.  As 
separatists  they  were  exhorted  to  renounce  their 
views,  and  the  threat  was  added  that  these  views 
would  no  longer  be  tolerated.  Some  agreed  to  recant. 
A  few  who  lived  outside  of  the  Canton  were  banished. 
The  rest,  fourteen  men  and  seven  women,  were  thrown 
into  prison,  and  kept  on  bread  and  water.  On 
Wednesday,  April  5,  1525,  they  escaped. 1  Two 
were  recaptured.  The  rest  made  their  way  to  places 
where  the  Anabaptists  were  strong  in  numbers,  es- 
pecially to  Gossau  and  Griiningen.  It  was  a  com- 
mon report,  as  tidings  of  their  escape  spread  through 
the  land,  that  an  angel  had  given  them  deliverance. 

And  so  the  Anabaptists  were  scattered  abroad. 
As  they  went  they  carried  with  them  the  gospel 
which  they  had  received.  They  believed  with  Grebel, 
that  the  Papacy  could  best  be  assailed  by  Anabap- 
tism.     Accordingly,  in  lonely  cottages  in  the  valleys 

1  Egli,  Acteiisammlung,  307,  Nr.  691. 


108  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN  SWITZERLAND. 

and  along  the  mountain  slopes,  the  people  were  quietly 
summoned  -together.  The  Bible  was  read,  its  divine 
lessons  were  earnestly  and  tenderly  unfolded,  and  sin- 
ners were  urged  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come.  It  was 
a  new  gospel  to  thousands,  and  multitudes  with  tears 
of  repentance  asked  the  privilege  of  confessing  their 
faith  in  Christ,  retiring  to  some  mountain  stream  to 
exclaim  with  the  Eunuch,  "  See,  here  is  water ;  what 
doth  hinder  me  to  be  baptized  ?  "  The  solemn  ordi- 
nance was  administered,  and  coming  forth  from  the 
water  both  the  convert  and  the  bearer  of  the  glad 
tidings  "  went  on  their  way  rejoicing." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

RAPID   SPREAD   OF   ANABAPTISM. 

We  have  now  traced  the  history  of  the  develop- 
ment of  Anabaptism  in  Switzerland.  Zwingli,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  early  foresaw  the  tendency  of  the 
radical  movement.  As  Fiisslin  says :  *  "  The  Ana- 
baptists insisted  upon  discipline,  or  the  exclusion  of 
manifestly  unworthy  members  from  the  fellowship 
of  the  church.  They  fancied  that  a  pure  church 
could  be  established,  in  which  there  were  no  sinners. 
Zwingli,  on  the  other  hand,  had  a  horror  of  such  an 
idea,  partly  because  he  thought  this  altogether  too 
much  like  the  fancy  of  the  Monastic  orders  of  the 
Papacy,  and  partly  because  he  regarded  it  as  impos- 
sible that  the  church  here  upon  earth  should  be  so  per- 
fect as  to  include  only  pure  and  unspotted  members." 

In  their  conflict  with  Zwingli,  however,  the  Ana- 
baptists had  an  immense  advantage  in  the  fact  that 
in  his  controversy  with  the  Eomanists  he  had  stoutly 
maintained  the  authority  of  the  Scriptuf  e3  in  matters 
of  faith  and  practice.     Standing  on  this  rock,  Zwin- 


1  Beytriige,  i.  s.  246,  note. 

109 


110  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

gli  had  won  his  greatest  victories.  And  here  it  was 
that  the  Anabaptists  now  stood.  Not  in  vain  had 
they  received  their  training  in  the  school  of  the  sturdy 
Reformer. 

They  had  another  advantage  in  the  fact  in  that,  going 
from  house  to  house,  from  village  to  village,  many  of 
those  whom  they  addressed  had  already  by  their  own 
study  of  the  Scripture  become  convinced  that  infant 
baptism  had  no  warrant  in  the  sacred  word  ;  and  they 
had  only  to  appeal  to  the  consciences  of  such  hearers 
to  win  them  to  the  newly  erected  standard. 

Moreover,  it  was  now  the  time  of  the  Peasant  War. 
The  Anabaptists  of  Switzerland  declined,  it  is  true, 
to  unite  their  fortunes  with  this  movement  for  politi- 
cal reform.  The  grievances  of  the  common  people 
they  acknowledged,  but  they  would  not  aid  in  the 
endeavor  to  right  them  by  the  sword.  Their  view 
of  the  independence  of  the  churches,  however,  and  of 
the  limits  of  the  powers  of  the  magistrates,  as  well  as 
the  general  distress  of  the  people  under  the  tyranny 
of  their  oppressors,  prepared  the  way  in  many  hearts 
for  the  words  of  those  who  preached  a  gospel  of  hope 
for  the  children  of  toil  and  want. 

But  most  of  all  the  religious  spirit  of  the  Anabap- 
tists aided  them  in  the  spread  of  the  doctrines  which 
they  preached.  In  their  own  quaint  language  they 
had  left  Egypt  with  its  lusts,  and  had  set  their  faces 


RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ANABAPTISM.      Ill 

toward  tlie  Canaan  of  their  hopes.  They  made  much 
of  their  Christian  experience.  Then,  too,  many  of 
them  had  sacrificed  friends  and  possessions  for  the 
Kingdom  of  God's  sake,  counting  it  a  privilege  that 
they  were  permitted,  not  only  to  believe  on  Christ, 
but  also  to  suffer  in  his  behalf.  Their  only  hire  was 
souls  ;  and  they  knew  of  no  greater  joy  than  that  which 
they  had  in  seeing  others,  especially  the  weary  and 
heavy  laden,  made  the  partakers  of  like  precious 
faith  ;  and  to  this  end  they  labored  with  an  interest 
that  never  flagged. 

The  influence  of  the  Anabaptist  exiles  was  soon 
discoverable  in  many  places.  In  Schaffhausen,  on 
the  northern  border  of  the  Swiss  Confederation, 
whither  Grebel,  Brodli,  and  Reublin  had  made  their 
way  early  in  1525,  not  much  was  accomplished.  It 
was  proposed  that  a  public  discussion  should  be  held 
in  which  the  views  of  the  Anabaptists  and  their  op- 
ponents should  be  presented  ;  but  on  account  of  the 
influence  of  Zwingli,  and  the  Zurich  Council,  as  it  is 
supposed,  the  discussion  was  not  held. 

But  at  Waldshut,  which  was  on  the  opposite  bank 
of  the  Rhine,  lower  down,  and  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  Austria,  the  situation  was  more  hopeful  for  the 
Anabaptist  cause.  Hubmeier,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  had  declared  his  agreement  with  the  radicals 
in  the  matter  of  infant  baptism.     In  the   letter   to 


112  THE  ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

Oecolampadius,  dated  January  16,  1575,  to  which 
we  have  already  referred,  he  explained  his  position, 
and  also  gave  the  following  account  of  his  practice  at 
Waldshut.  "  Instead  of  baptism,"  he  said,  "  I  call 
the  members  of  the  church  together,  and  when  the 
child  is  brought  in  I  expound  in  the  German 
language  the  passage  in  Matthew  19,  '  Then  were 
there  brought  unto  him  little  children,  etc'  After- 
ward, when  the  child  has  been  named,  the  congrega- 
tion, kneeling,  pray  for  the  little  one,  commending  it 
to  Christ,  and  imploring  his  grace  upon  it.  If,  how- 
ever, the  parents  are  weak,  and  desire  that  the  child 
be  baptized,  I  baptize  it,  becoming  weak  to  the  weak, 
until  they  shall  be  better  instructed.  At  the  same 
time  I  do  not  yield  my  own  views  in  the  smallest 
point."  x 

Thither,  therefore  with  a  heart  full  of  hope,  Reub- 
lin  came  early  in  April,  1525.  Hubmeier,  with 
others,  listened  to  his  words,  but  did  not  at  once  take 
a  place  at  Reublin's  side.  Some  of  the  citizens, 
however,  eagerly  accepted  the  new  doctrines,  and  were 
baptized.  Hubmeier  soon  followed,  being  baptized 
with  one  hundred  and  ten  others  at  Easter,  by  Reub- 
lin. 2  The  accession  of  such  a  man  to  the  Ana- 
baptist ranks  was   an  important  event.     Hubmeier 

Zwingli,  WerJce,  ii,  s.  339. 
2  Fusslin,  Beytrlifjc  i,  s.  217. 


RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ANABAPTISM.       113 

was  not  only  a  brilliant  preacher,  but  a  trained 
theologian,  and  a  writer  of  acknowledged  ability 
and  reputation.  Moreover,  Waldshut  was  strongly 
attached  to  him.  It  was  through  his  influence  that 
the  Reformation  had  won  so  decisive  a  victory  there, 
and  now,  when  some  of  the  citizens  of  Waldshut 
manifested  hostility  to  the^  Anabaptist  movement,  he 
had  only  to  threaten  to  leave  the  place,  and  all  op- 
position ceased.  A  church  was  at  once  organized, 
of  which  Hubmeier,  who  had  resigned  his  former 
charge,  was  made  pastor;  and  during  the  Easter  fes- 
tival he  baptized  more  than  three  hundred  of  his 
former  flock. 

Reublin  now  visited  Hallau,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Schaffhausen,  and  assisted  Brodli  who  had  already 
set  up  the  Anabaptist  standard  there.  Two  letters 
written  by  Brodli  to  the  brethren  in  Zollikon  have 
been  preserved.  There  is  no  date  to  these  letters, 
but  their  contents  show  that  they  were  written  at 
this  time.  In  one  of  these  letters  Brodli  reminds  his 
brethren  that  while  he  was  with  them  he  faithfully 
preached  the  gospel,  supporting  himself  by  the  labors 
of  his  hands,  in  order  that  he  might  not  be  burden- 
some to  them,  and  that  he  was  driven  away  from 
Zollikon  on  account  of  the  truth,  yet  according  to 
the  will  of  God.  Referring  to  his  labors  in  Hallau, 
he  says  he  finds  a  great  harvest,  but  few  reapers. 


114  THE  ANABAPTISTS    IN   SWITZERLAND. 

Antichrist  rules  among  the  people.  "  Pray  for 
them,"  he  asks,  "  that  they  may  be  enlightened." 
And  he  closes  with  these  words  :  "  Dear  brethren, 
stand  fast  in  faith,  love,  and  hope.  Let  no  man  ter- 
rify you.  If  any  man  preaches  to  you  another  gos- 
pel than  I  have  preached,  let  him  be  accursed.  If  it 
is  possible,  send  a  brother  to  me,  who  can  tell  me 
how  it  stands  with  you,  for  I  greatly  desire  to  know. 
Greet  one  another  with  a  kiss  of  peace ;  withdraw 
from  every  brother,  who  walks  disorderly,  and  not 
as  he  and  you  have  been  instructed.  Beware  of 
false  prophets,  who  preach  for  hire.  Shun  them, 
exhort  one  another,  and  abide  in  the  doctrine  which 
you  have  received.  The  peace  of  God  be  with  you  all." 
Two  weeks  later  Brodli  writes  again  to  the  breth- 
ren in  Zollikon.  "  My  heart  is  troubled  on  your 
account,  and  I  am  pained  at  the  report  that  some  of 
you  have  fallen  away  from  the  holy  faith,  and  the 
word  of  God,  which  was  made  known  unto  you,  and 
in  accordance  with  which  you  were  baptized ;  also 
that  others,  who  were  imprisoned,  have  denied  the 
sign  of  baptism,  and  have  accepted  that  which 
clearly,  as  you  know,  is  contrary  to  the  word  of  God. 
Christ  shows  in  the  gospel  what  a  curse  are  temporal 

possessions  if  they  prove  a  hindrance I  am 

told  that  some  among  you  have  shunned  the    cross 
and   concealed    yourselves,    which    astonished    me. 


RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ANABAPTISM.       115 

William  [Reublin]  has  been  with  me,  and  departed, 
and  where  he  now  is  I  do  not  know.  He  is  troubled 
in  Christ  in  your  behalf,  as  I  am.  Be  sure  and  send 
me  the  Bible.  Stand  fast  in  the  faith.  Let  no  man 
terrify  you ;  so  will  God  who  is  strong,  strengthen 
you.  Oh,  how  strong,  I  hear,  was  my  brother 
Mantz,  and  George  [Blaurock],  but  especially  Mantz. 
God  be  praised.  Conrad  Grebel  is  cast  down,  but  in 
Christ.  William  has  been  with  me  recently.  I  ex- 
pect you  to  abide  in  the  word  and  faith  which  you 
have  received."1 

The  victory  in  Hallau  was  soon  complete,  the  en- 
tire church  receiving  baptism  at  the  hands  of  Brodli 
and  Reublin.  The  officials  in  the  place  had  previ- 
ously sent  to  Zollikon  to  inquire  in  reference  to  the 
standing  of  Brodli.  The  messengers  reported  that 
Brodli  had  conducted  himself  there  in  a  manner  be- 
coming his  office.  When  it  was  known  in  Zurich 
that  Brodli  was  preaching  in  Hallau,  the  Burgomas- 
ter and  Council  sent  a  communication  to  the  Burgo- 
master and  Council  of  Schaffhausen  in  which  they 
uttered  a  note  of  warning.2  The  letter  was  dated 
April  4,  1525.  It  seems,  however,  to  have  had  no 
immediate  influence.3 

i  Fiisslin,  Beytrdge,  i,  s.  201—227.  Egli,  Actensammlung,  302, 
303,  Nr.  674. 

2  Cornelius,  Geschichte  des  Miinsterischen  Aufruhrs,  ii,  s.  249. 

3  We  hear  no  more  of  Brodli,  and  only  know  that  he  died  a 


116  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN  SWITZERLAND. 

In  St.  Gall,  the  success  of  the  new  movement  was 
equally  marked  and  even  more  important.  Much 
preparatory  work  had  been  done  in  preceding  years, 
beginning  at  the  close  of  1523,  when  Laurence  Hoch- 
riitiner  was  banished  from  Zurich  on  account  of  his 
participation  in  the  destruction  of  the  great  cros3 
which  stood  before  the  upper  ga£e  of  the  city.  In 
returning  to  his  native  place  he  brought  with  him  the 
radical  views  which  he  had  adopted  at  Zurich,  and 
soon  gathered  around  him  a  party,  which  became 
stronger  and  stronger  during  the  following  year. 
Kessler,  the  pastor  of  the  church,  was  at  that  time, 
by  request,  expounding  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans. 
When  he  reached  the  sixth  chapter,  and  was  consid- 
ering the  significance   of   the  ordinance  of  baptism, 

martyr's  death  somewhere  in  1528.  See  Cornelius,  Geschichte  des 
M'dnsterischen  Aufruhrs,  ii,  59.  Reublin,  later,  was  in  Strasburg. 
Then  he  went  into  Swabia,  where  he  was  active  in  organizing 
small  Baptist  churches.  He  seems  to  have  labored  a  short  time 
in  Horb,  Reutlingen,  and  Esslingen.  Then  we  find  him  in  Ulm, 
and  still  later  in  Augsburg.  Afterwards  he  seems  to  have  gone 
into  Moravia.  He  labored  awhile  at  Austerlitz.  January  8, 
1531,  he  founded  a  new  church  at  Auspitz,  in  which  an  attempt 
was  made  to  separate  the  pure  from  the  impure  elements,  and 
which  became  one  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  Moravian 
churches.  But  at  length  Reublin  himself  was  excommunicated 
as  a  false  brother.  In  Cornelius,  Geschichte  des  Munsterischen 
Aufruhrs,  ii,  s.  253-259,  there  is  a  letter  written  by  Reublin  to  Pil- 
gram  Marbeck,  dated  Auspitz,  January  26,  1531. 


RAriD  SPREAD  OF  ANABAPTISM.       117 

Hochriitincr  interrupted  him,  saying,  "  I  infer  from 
your  words  that  you  are  of  the  opinion  that  children 
may  be  baptized."  "Why  not?"  asked  Kessler. 
Hochrutiner  appealed  to  Mark  16:16,  "He  that  be- 
lieveth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved,"  and  added  that 
to  baptize  a  child  was  the  same  as  dipping  in  water 
any  irrational  creature. l 

Wolfgang  Ulimann,  on  his  return  to  St.  Gall, 
after  his  baptism  at  Schaff hausen  by  Grebel,  gave  a 
new  impulse  to  the  Anabaptist  movement.  Grebel 
soon  followed — probably  late  in  March,  1525 — and 
on  Palm  Sunday,  April  9,3  he  baptized  a  large  num- 
ber in  the  Sitter  River.1  The  St.  Gall  Anabaptists 
now  withdrew  from  the  churches,  leaving  them  al- 
most empty,  and  held  religious  services  in  private 
houses,  and  in  the  open  fields.     In  a  short  time  the 

1  Kessler,  Sabbata,  s.  264. 

2  Ulimann.  subsequently  went  into  Moravia. 

3  Kessler,  Sabbata,  s.  267. 

4  With  Grebel,  manifestly,  immersion  had  now  taken  the  place 
of  sprinkling.  Dr.  Howard  Osgood,  of  Rochester  Theological 
Seminary,  who  was  at  St.  Gall  in  1867,  says  :  "A  mountain 
stream,  sufficient  for  all  sprinkling  purposes,  flows  through  the 
city;  but  in  no  place  is  it  deep  enough  for  the  immersion  of  a 
person,  while  the  Sitter  River  is  between  two  and  three  miles 
away,  and  is  gained  by  a  difficult  road.  The  only  solution  of  this 
choice  was,  that  Grebel  sought  the  river,  in  order  to  immerse  can- 
didates.'' 


118  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

Anabaptist  Church  numbered  eight  hundred  mem- 
bers. 

Prominent  among  those  who  aided  in  this  work  was 
Hippolytus  Eberli,  familiarly  known  as  Polt;  a  man 
of  lowly  birth,  but  well  instructed  in  the  Scriptures, 
and  with  popular  gifts  as  a  speaker,  which  made  his 
labors  very  effective.  Abov  i  all,  he  was  a  man  of 
earnest  piety,  and  of  deep  religious  experience.1 
He  left  St.  Gall  a  week  after  Easter,  and  returned  to 
his  home  in  Schwytz  where  he  was  soon  arrested  and 
thrown  into  prison.  May  29,  with  a  priest  who  also 
had  renounced  Eomanism,  he  was  burned  as  an  Ana- 
baptist heretic.  Both,  says  Bullinger,2  were  stead- 
fast unto  the  end,  and  died  calling  upon  the  name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus. 

Among  those  who  were  in  St.  Gall  in  those  event- 
ful days  was  the  famous  John  Denk,  whose  name  is 
a  conspicuous  one  in  the  history  of  the  Anabaptists 
of  Southern  Germany.  He  was  not  at  that  time 
openly  an  Anabaptist,  but  it  is  not  impossible  that  he 
was  in  secret  communication  with  them.3  His  great 
talents  were  recognized  by  Vadian,  then  the  Burgo- 
master of  St.  Gall.  But  his  stay  in  St.  Gall  was 
brief,  for  in  the  summer  or  autumn  of  that  year  we 

1  Walser,  Appenzeller  ChroniJc,  s.  439. 

2  Ecformationsgeschichte,  i,  s.  289. 

3  Studien  unci  Kritiken,  1851,  s.  137. 


EAPID  SPREAD  OF  ANABAPTISM.  119 

find  him  in  Augsburg,  actively  employed  in  advancing 
the  Anabaptist  cause  there. 

Attracted  by  the  new  movement,  crowds  from  Ap- 
penzell  and  other  places  in  the  country  around,  flocked 
to  St.  Gall.  Many  of  these  strangers — some  say  as 
many  as  1500,  and  one  writer  l  2200,  from  Appen- 
zell — became  converts  to  the  new  faith  ;  and  return- 
ing to  their  homes  carried  with  them  the  glad  tidings 
they  had  received.  Some  were  men  in  humble  life, 
but  freely  they  had  received  and  freely  they  would 
give  ;  and  with  apostolic  zeal  they  made  their  way  to 
the  villages  and  scattered  hamlets  of  secluded  moun- 
tain valleys,  and  told  what  great  things  the  Lord  had 
done  for  their  souls.  Others  had  served  as  parish 
priests,  or  evangelical  pastors,  and  now,  like  Paul  of 
old,  they  preached  the  faith  they  once  sought  to  de- 
stroy. In  Appenzell,  the  Anabaptists  had  three  places 
where  meetings  were  held.  The  largest  was  at  Teufen, 
with  a  second  at  Herrisau,  and  the  third  at  Brunnen. 
In  all  of  these  places  the  services  were  under  the  open 
sky,  while  the  converts  were  baptized  in  the  neigh- 
boring brooks  and  streams.  In  Teufen,  the  Ana- 
baptists became  so  numerous  that  the  pastor  of  the 
Zwinglian  church,  Jacob  Schurtanner,  was  deposed, 
and  Hans  Krusi,  an  Anabaptist  teacher  from  St. 
George,  was  elected  pastor   in  his  place.     Not  long 

1  Walser,  Anpenzeller  Chromk,  s.  438. 


120  THE   ANABiPTESTS    IN    SWITZERLAND. 

after  Krusi  appeared  in  St.  George.  There  he  was 
arrested,  then  taken  to  Lucerne,  where  he  was  tried 
and  burned  at  the  stake.1 

1  Walser,  Appcnzeller  Chronik,  s.  440.     Zellweger,  Geschichte  des 
Appenzellischcn  Volkes,  iii,  s.  181. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

EFFORTS  TO  STAY  THE  PROGRESS  OF  ANABAPTISM. 

In  May  (at  least  the  preface  is  dated  May  27, 
1525)  appeared  Zwingli's  Vom  Touf,  Widertouf,  urid 
Kindertouf}  It  was  addressed  to  the  Burgomaster, 
Council,  and  church  at  St.  Gall,  and  was  called  forth 
by  the  rapid  progress  of  Anabaptist  views  in  and 
around  St.  Gall.  It  seems  that  after  Grebel's  depar- 
ture, Anabaptists  from  Zollikon  made  their  way 
thither  and  continued  the  work  so  auspiciously  begun. 
Something,  it  was  thought,  must  be  done  to  stay  this 
tide  of  Anabaptist  success.  Accordingly,  in  response 
to  the  earnest  request  of  Vadian  and  the  Council, 
Zwingli  prepared  this  work,  in  which,  in  opposition 
to  the  Anabaptists,  he  gave  expression  to  his  views 
on  the  three  points  mentioned  in  the  title.  It  was  in 
this  work  that  Zwingli  made  the  confession  that  at 
an  earlier  period  in  the  reform  movement  he  [himself 
had  believed  it  would  be  better  to  defer  the  baptism 
of  infants  until  they  were  well  advanced  in  years.2 
He  also  admitted  that  good  had  been  accomplished  by 

1  Werhe,u.  230-303.  2  Werke,  ii.  s.245. 

6  121 


122  THE  ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

the  discussions  on  this  subject.  "  It  is  now  seen," 
he  said,  "that  the  pouring  of  water  cannot  wash 
away  sins,  as  has  hitherto  been  maintained  without 
Scripture  warrant."  But  he  defended  infant  bap- 
tism as  taking  the  place  of  circumcision,  and  de- 
nounced Anabaptism  as  unscriptural,  charging  those 
who  practiced  it  as  crucifying  Christ  afresh. 

A  copy  of  this  work  soon  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Hubmeier,  and  he  at  once  prepared  a  reply,  which 
appeared  under  date  of  July  6.  It  was  entitled, 
Concerning  the  Christian  Baptism  of  Believers, 
and  bore  the  motto  which  Hubmeier  had  adopted, 
"  Truth  is  immortal."  In  this  work  Hubmeier  main- 
tained that  baptism  presupposed  faith.  Infant  bap- 
tism, therefore,  had  no  place  in  the  gospel  system. 
To  the  question  whether  it  is  forbidden  in  the  word 
of  God  to  baptize  infants,  he  replied,  "  Yes,  for  the 
command  is  to  baptize  those  who  believe.  To  bap- 
tize those  who  do  not  believe,  therefore,  is  forbidden. 
For  example,  Christ  commanded  his  apostles  to  preach 
the  gospel.  In  so  doing  the  doctrines  of  men  were 
forbidden."  This  reply  was  widely  circulated,  and 
attracted  much  attention.  Berthold  Haller,  evange- 
lical pastor  in  Berne,  wrote,  that  by  it  many  were 
led  to  embrace  Anabaptist  views. 

A  tract  of  no  less  interest,  Hubmeier  finished  July 
1,  1525,  and  therefore,  only  a  few  days  before  the 


EFFORTS  TO  STAY  ITS  PROGRESS.  123 

appearance  of  bis  tract,  Concerning  the  Christian 
Baptism  of  Believers.  It  was  entitled  The  Sum 
of  a  Perfect  Christian  Life,  and  was  addressed  to 
Hubmeier 's  "  dear  brethren  and  sisters,"  in  the 
churches  in  Kegensburg,  Ingolstadt,  and  Friedberg. l 

Hubmeier  begins  with  a  confession  that  he  has 
sinned  against  God,  not  only  in  life,  but  in  preaching 
false  doctrines,  especially  in  what  he  had  taught  con- 
cerning infant  baptism,  vigils,  festivals,  purgatory, 
the  mass,  indulgences,  pilgrimages,  etc.  With  Paul, 
however,  he  says  he  did  it  ignorantly,  having  been 
deceived  by  the  teachings  of  the  Church  of  Eome. 
For  this  he  had  besought  and,  as  he  believed,  received 
pardon  from  God.  Having  made  this  confession, 
Hubmeier  exhorts  his  brethren  to  ascertain  whether 
the  teaching  of  their  preachers  is  in  accordance 
with  God's  teaching  It  is  not  enough,  he  says  that 
these  preachers  offer  to  pledge  their  souls  for  you, 
for  Christ  has  told  us  that  "if  the  blind  lead  the 
blind,  both  shall  fall  into  the  ditch." 

After   this   introduction    Hubmeier    proceeds    to 

1  Ain  Sum  ains  gantzen  Christenlichen  lebens,  Durch  Baldasaren 
Frydberger  Predicant,  yetz  zu  "Waldshutt  verzeichnet,  an  die  drey 
Kirche  Regespurg,  Ingoldstat,  un  Fridberg,  seynen  lieben  herren 
briedern,  und  schwestern  in  got  dem  herren.  Sonderlich  ain 
bericht  den  kinder  Touff  Und  daa  Nachttmal  belangent. 
MDXXV. 


124  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

the  development  of  Lis  theme.  In  order  to  a 
Christian  life,  he  says,  there  must  be  a  change  in 
the  natural  man,  who  is  by  nature  sinful,  and  with 
no  remedy  in  himself  by  which  the  wounds  that  sin 
has  made  can  be  healed.  The  Samaritan,  that  is 
Christ,  must  come,  who  brings  with  him  healing 
balms,  namely  oil  and  wine,  and  pours  them  into  the 
sinner's  wounds,  saying,  "  Believe  the  gospel,  which 
teaches  that  I  am  the  physician  who  has  come  into 
the  world  to  make  sinners  whole.  I  am  the  one  In- 
tercessor, making  reconciliation  and  peace  with  G-od 
our  Father.  Whosoever  believeth  in  me  hath  ever- 
lasting life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation." 
With  such  comforting  words  the  sinner  is  brought 
to  himself,  and  is  led  to  accept  Christ  as  his  Saviour 
and  to  enter  upon  the  new  life. 

When  a  man  by  faith  has  received  this  new  life 
he  confesses  it  before  the  church  of  which  he  is 
made  a  member  according  to  the  rule  of  Christ;  that 
is,  he  shows  to  the  church  that,  instructed  in  the 
Scriptures,  he  has  given  himself  to  Christ  to  live 
henceforth  according  to  his  will  and  teaching.  He 
is  then  baptized,  making  in  baptism  public  confession 
of  his  faith,  namely,  that  he  has  a  gracious  and  merci- 
ful God  and  Father  in  heaven,  through  Jesus  Christ, 
and  that  henceforth  he  is  under  obligations  to  lead  a 
new  life.     In  baptism,  also,  he  testifies  that  should 


EFFORTS  TO  STAY  ITS  PROGRESS.  125 

he  in  any  way  bring  dishonor  to  the  name  of  Christ, 
he  will  submit  to  the  discipline  of  the  church  as  in- 
culcated in  Matthew  18.  In  other  words,  in  bap- 
tism he  confesses  that  he  is  a  sinner,  but  that  Christ 
by  his  death  has  pardoned  his  sins,  so  that  he  is 
accounted  righteous  before  the  face  of  God,  his  Hea- 
venly Father ;  that  henceforth  he  will  live  according 
to  the  word  and  command  of  Christ;  and  that,  not  in 
his  own  strength,  but  in  the  strength  of  God  the 
Father,  and  of  his  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Persecution,  the  cross,  and  all  kinds  of  tribula- 
tions may  follow,  for  the  world  hates  the  light,  and 
loves  darkness.  The  old  Adam,  that  is  the  sinful 
nature,  comes  into  conflict,  too,  with  the  spiritual 
man.  The  former  with  his  lusts  must  be  slain,  and 
the  new  man  must  bring  forth  good  fruit,  exercising 
himself  day  and  night  in  all  those  things  which 
manifest  brotherly  love  and  the  praise  of  God. 

A  true  Christian  life,  then,  has  its  beginning  in 
the  word  of  God.  Confession  of  sin  follows,  and  par- 
don for  the  same  through  faith.  This  faith  is  not 
passive,  but  active  in  all  good  works.  Those  only 
are  good  works,  however,  which  God  enjoined,  and 
of  which  he  will  call  for  an  account  in  the  day  of 
judgment.     Thankfulness  should  follow. 

In  this  connection  Hubmeier  speaks  of  the  Lord's 
Supper.     As  Christ  and  his  disciples  were   together 


126  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

in  the  upper  chamber  he  took  bread  and  said : 
"  Take,  eat ;  this  is  my  body,  which  is  broken  for 
you  ;  this  do  in  remembrance  of  me."  In  like  man- 
ner also  he  took  the  cup,  and  gave  to  his  disciples, 
saying,  "  This  is  my  blood  which  is  shed  for  you  for 
the  remission  of  sins  ;  this  do  in  remembrance  of  me." 
Plainly  the  bread  is  not  the  body  of  Christ,  but  a 
memorial  of  the  death  of  Christ.  Likewise  the  wine 
is  not  the  blood  of  Christ,  but  a  memorial  of  the 
great  truth  that  his  blood  was  poured  out  on  the 
cross,  for  the  remission  of  sins.  We  are  not  to  for- 
get, that  Christ  died  for  us.  Thus  Paul  writes  to  the 
Corinthians  :  '  For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread 
[notice  he  says  bread,  and  it  is  bread],  and  drink  this 
cup  [notice  it  is  wine  that  is  drunk],  ye  do  shew  the 
Lord's  death  till  he  come.'  He  is  not  there,  then, 
but  he  will  come  at  the  judgment,  in  great  majesty 
and  glory,  visibly,  as  the  lightning  cometh  out  of  the 
East  and  shineth  even  unto  the  West." 

In  conclusion,  Hubmeier  exhorts  his  "  dear  friends 
and  brethren  "  to  take  to  their  hearts  what  he  has 
said,  and  to  act  in  accordance  with  the  clear,  simple 
word  of  Christ,  by  which  we  must  be  saved.  Christ 
says,  "  Whosoever  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him 
will  I  confess  also  before  my  Father  which  is  in  hea- 
ven. But  whosoever  shall  deny  me  before  men,  him 
will   I   also   deny   before   my   Father   which   is   in 


EFFORTS  TO  STAY  ITS  PROGRESS.  127 

heaven."  "  Fear  not  them  which  kill  the  body,  but 
are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul ;  but  rather  fear  him. 
which  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell." 
He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear  the  condem- 
nation of  God  upon  those  who  deny  his  word. 

Meanwhile,  at  St.  Gall,  Vadian  had  become  arous- 
ed to  the  necessity  of  active  measures  against  the 
Anabaptists,  if  the  Zwinglian  Church  in  that  place  was 
to  be  preserved.  Infant  baptism  was  an  abuse  (Mis- 
brauch)  he  was  willing  to  admit ;  but  the  work  of 
reform  should  proceed  gradually,  and  in  an  orderly 
manner. l  Grebel  earnestly  entreated  him  neither  to 
give  to  other  places  an  example  of  persecution,  nor  to 
stain  his  hands  with  innocent  blood.  But  Vadian 
declined  to  depart  from  the  course  he  had  marked 
out,  and  June  5,  he  laid  before  the  Council  his 
objection  to  the  Anabaptist  movement.  2  The  Ana- 
baptists replied  on  the  following  day. 

Soon  after,  a  copy  of  Zwingli's  new  tract,  Vom 
Touf,  was  received  by  one  of  the  evangelical  pastors 

1  Cornelius,  Oeschichte  des  Milnsterischen  Aufruhrs,  ii.  s.  37. 

a  Kessler,  Sabbata,  s.  274,  states  Vadian's  objection  as  follows: 
"  Der  widertouffer  ordnung  und  bruch  ze  predigen  were  an  un- 
ordenlicher  freffel  wider  der  apostel  brucb  und  ler,  und  un  alien 
cbristenlicben  beruff,  uss  aigner  wal  fiirgenommen."  But  the 
apostle's  "  custom  and  doctrine"  were  the  especial  claim  of  the 
Anabaptists,  and  we  can  well  infer  what  their  reply  must  have 
been. 


128  THE    ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

in  St.  Gall,  who  announced  in  a  sermon  that  in  the 
evening  he  would  read  it,  and  give  the  Anabaptists 
an  opportunity  to  show  in  what  it  did  not  agree  with 
the  Scriptures.  In  the  evening,  the  burgomaster, 
councillors,  and  others  assembled  in  the  St.  Lawrence 
Church,  and  the  reading  of  the  tract  was  commenced. 
Soon  Wolfgang  Ulimann  arose  and  with  a  loud  voice 
cried  out :  "  I  pity  the  poor  people  here  present,  mis- 
led by  such  a  book.  Stop  reading.  Give  us  God's, 
not  Zwingli's,  words."  The  burgomaster  ordered  that 
the  reading  should  proceed,  saying  that  the  Anabap- 
tists might  afterward  present  their  objections  to 
Zwingli's  position.  An  Anabaptist  replied  that  they 
were  expecting  a  letter  from  Grebel ;  when  that  ar- 
rived they  would  give  their  answer.  "  At  your 
meetings,"  said  the  burgomaster,"  you  are  ready 
enough  to  speak  without  Grebel ;  speak  here  also." 
It  was  then  said  that  Grebel's  letter  had  already  been 
received,  and  that  it  was  addressed  to  the  burgomas- 
ter and  Council.  "  We  will  read  it,"  said  the  speaker  ; 
"  and  listen  to  what  Conrad  Grebel  has  to  say  against 
Zwingli."  But  as  the  letter  was  addressed  to  the 
burgomaster,  the  latter  demanded  that  it  should  be 
placed  in  his  hands.  Much  discussion  followed, 
and  at  length  the  Anabaptists  withdrew,  saying, 
"  You  have  Zwingli's,  we  have  God's  word."  ! 
Kessler.  Sabbata,  s.  275. 


EFFORTS  TO  STAY  ITS  PROGRESS.  129 

A  decree  of  the  Council  of  St.  Gall  was  now  issued 
forbidding  the  Anabaptists  to  administer  either  bap- 
tism or  the  Lord's  Supper,  under  penalty  of  imprison- 
ment or  banishment.  Those  who  permitted  them- 
selves to  be  baptized  were  subjected  to  a  fine.  In 
order  to  carry  out  the  decree  a  special  force  of  two 
hundred  men  was  organized,  and  sworn  to  support 
the  magistrates.  Only  one  man  declined  to  take  the 
oath,  and  he  was  compelled  to  leave  the  place  with  his 
family.  The  suppression  of  the  Anabaptists  in 
St.  Gall  by  the  civil  power  then  commenced.  ■ 

Early  in  July,  we  find  Grebel  at  Baretschwyl,  a  vil- 
lage about  half  way  between  St.  Gall  and  Eapper- 
schwyl  on  Lake  Zurich,  and  in  what  was  called  the 
Griiningen  district.  From  Baretschwyl,  with  Marx 
Bosshart  of  Zollikon  as  a  companion,  Grebel  made  a 
missionary  tour  among  the  neighboring  villages. 
Here  he  found  the  common  people  in  sympathy  with 
the  peasants,  who,  in  different  parts  of  Central  Eu- 
rope had  raised  the  standard  of  revolt.  Early  in  the 
year,  they  had  adopted  articles,  probably  like  those 
adopted  by  the  friends  of  political  reform  in  other 
places ;  and  near  the  end  of  April,  not  receiving  the 
satisfaction  they  demanded,  they  had  made  an  attack 
on  the  cloisters  at  Euti  and  Bubikon.     The  pastors 

1  Cornelius,  Geschichte  des  Munsterischen  Aufruhrs,  ii,  s.  37. 

6* 


130  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

at  Diirnten,  Hinwyl,  Egg,  Gossau,  and  Hombrechti- 
kon,  villages  in  this  district,  were  prominent  in  this 
uprising.  "  We  are  all  free,"  they  said,  "  one  as  the 
other,  and  are  the  slaves  of  no  man.  All  have  one 
master,  that  is  God."  Grebel  seems  not  to  have 
been  in  any  way  connected  with  these  efforts  to  se- 
cure political  and  social  reform ;  but  the  condition  of 
things,  which  was  the  result  of  this  movement,  he 
recognized  as  favorable  for  his  own  purposes,  and 
accordingly  seized  the  opportunity  thus  presented. 
It  is  inferred  that  at  this  time  Grebel  and  his  com- 
panion visited  Winterthur.  1  Hinwyl  became  an 
important  Anabaptist  centre.  Here  Grebel  had  a 
discussion  with  the  pastor  of  the  Evangelical  Church. 
When  the  latter  appealed  to  the  mandate  of  the 
Council  enjoining  infant  baptism,  Grebel  exclaimed, 
"  Are  you  a  man  ?  You  should  listen  neither  to  the 
Council  nor  any  human  being,  but  do  that  which 
God  commands."  2 

August  2,  Marx  Bosshart,  who  had  been  arrested 
for  holding  public  preaching  services  and  disturbing 
the  peace,  was  fined  by  the  Council  one  mark,  and 
was  put  under  bonds  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred 
pounds   to   abstain   from   such  acts   in   the   future. 

i  Egli,  Actensammlung,  363,  Nr.  768. 

*  Egli,  Die  Zilricher  Wiedertaufer,  s.  42 :  Actensammlung,  379, 

Nr.  797. 


EFFORTS  TO  STAY  ITS  PROGRESS.  131 

About  the  same  time,  Arbogast  Finsterbach,  Hans 
Miiller  and  Gebhart  Strasser,  all  belonging  in  Ober- 
winterthur,  fell  under  suspicion  as  Anabaptists  on 
account  of  a  visit  to  Zollikon.  Finsterbach,  who  was 
Bosshart's  brother-in-law,  was  compelled  to  give 
bail  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred  pounds.  Then 
all  three  having  paid  the  costs  of  their  examination, 
were  released.1 

The  great  activity  of  the  Anabaptists  at  this  time 
comes  before  us  in  many  notes  taken  at  the  trial  of 
those  who  had  been  arrested  for  disobeying  the 
mandate  of  the  Zurich  Council.  George  Schad  con- 
fesses that  on  the  preceding  Sunday  he  had  baptized 
forty  persons  from  Zollikon,  Hongg,  and  Kiissnacht ; 
John  Brichter  had  baptized  more  than  thirty ;  and 
others  a  less  number.  2 

But  the  work  of  suppression  went  on,  and  the  pri- 
sons continued  to  bear  witness  to  the  sufferings  of  those 
who  from  time  to  time  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
officers  of  the  Council.  A  glimpse  of  some  of  these 
we  find  in  the  records  which  the  Zurich  archives  pre- 
serve. Some  of  these  prisoners  were  strangers  in 
the  Canton.  September  20,  George  Berger,  the 
bailiff  of  the  Gruningen  district,  sent  to  the  Council 

1  Egli,  Actensammlung,  372,  Nr.  792. 
3  Egli,  Actensammlung,  374-6,  Nr.  795. 


132  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

an  account  of  Ulrich  Teck  and  Jacob  Gross,  Anabap- 
tists from  "Waldshut,  whom  lie  had  arrested.  He 
had  asked  them  why  they  ventured  to  baptize  with- 
in the  limits  of  the  Canton,  contrary  to  the  mandate 
of  the  Council.  They  replied  that  it  was  not  against 
God;  and  with  many  and  apt  words  they  presented 
their  case.  He  had  told  them,  also,  that  inquiries  in 
reference  to  them  had  been  made  in  "Waldshut,  and 
he  asked  them  why  they  were  sent  into  exile.  They 
said  that  it  was  because  they  had  stood  together 
against  the  enemy,  according  to  the  will  of  God. 
They  were  ready  to  work  on  fortifications,  to  pay 
fines  and  taxes,  but  not  to  bear  arms.  J 

A  week  later  Felix  Aberli  was  taken  from  the  New 
Tower  and  thrown  into  the  Wellenberg  to  be  kept 
on  bread  and  water  and  denied  the  visits  of  his 
friends.  Subsequently  he  was  relieved  by  the  in- 
fluence of  some  citizens  of  Berne. 2 

Meanwhile  Felix  Mantz  was  in  Chur  preaching 
the  new  doctrines.  But  the  hand  of  the  civil  power 
was  soon  laid  upon  him ;  for  in  July  he  was  arrested 
there,  and  surrendered  to  the  Zurich  Council.  In 
a  letter  to  the  Zurich  Council  concerning  Mantz,  the 
Council  at  Chur  said :  "  We  have  had  among  us  lor 
a  long  time  one  who  calls  himself  Felix  Mantz.     The 

1  Egli,  Actensammlung,   391,  2,  Nr.  824. 
a  Egli,  Actensammlung,  392,  Nr.  827. 


EFFORTS  TO  STAY  ITS  PROGRESS.       133 

same  has  been  the  occasion  among  us  of  much  dissen- 
sion on  account  of  the  rebaptism  of  adults,  and  preach- 
ing in  private  houses,  and  we  ordered  him  to  leave 
the  city.  Afterward  he  returned  and  did  as  before, 
notwithstanding  the  public  announcement  which  we 
caused  to  be  made  in  the  church,  forbidding  Ana- 
baptism  on  pain  of  life  and  loss  of  honor  and  posses- 
sions. On  this  account,  we  arrested  him,  and  re- 
tained him  in  custody  some  days.  But  as  he  was  a 
stubborn  and  refractory  man,  we  again  released  him 
from  prison,  and  sent  him  to  you,  as  he  belongs  to 
your  jurisdiction,  with  the  friendly  request  that  you 
will  keep  him  with  you,  and  we  be  free  of  him,  and 
our  people  remain  in  peace,  and  that  we  may  not  be 
compelled,  should  he  return  hither,  to  adopt  severer 
means  in  reference  to  him. 1  When  Mantz  reached 
Zurich  he  was  thrown  into  prison.  Of  the  work  he 
accomplished  at  Chur,  we  get  a  glimpse  in  a  letter 
from  a  prominent  official  to  Zwingli,  dated  August  8, 
1525,  in  which  it  is  said  that  the  Anabaptists  had  in 
their  ranks  all  the  people  in  the  place  who  were  best 
instructed  in  the  word.2 

Oecolampadius,  at  Basel,  had  given  considerable 
attention  to  the  objections  that  had  been    urged  by 

i  Fiisslin,  Beytrage,  i.  s.  269-278. 

2  Omnes  optime  institutes   verbo  ad  partes  suas   traxerunt  de- 
pravatos.   Zwingli  Opera,  B  vii.  P.  1.  400. 


134  THE   ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

the  Anabaptists  against  infant  baptism.  At  first,  he 
admitted  their  force,  and  he  even  went  so  far  as  to 
express  the  wish  that  infant  baptism  might  be  set 
aside. 1  Gradually  the  principles  of  the  Anabap- 
tists took  root  in  Basel  and  the  surrounding  country. 
Especially  was  the  influence  of  Hubmeier  felt.  Oeco- 
lampadius  now  saw  that  he  had  gone  too  far,  and  un- 
der the  influence  of  Zwingli  he  soon  publicly  arrayed 
himself  against  the  Anabaptists.  It  was  thought 
best  that  there  should  be  a  discussion  in  reference 
to  infant  baptism,  and  such  a  discussion  was  held  in 
Oecolampadius'  house  some  time  during  the  month 
of  August. 2 

A  report  of  this  discussion,3  prepared  by  Oeco- 
lampadius and  printed  at  Basel,  bears  the  date  of  Sep- 
tember 1,  1525.  Herzog 4  says  that  the  names  of  the 
Anabaptists  who  participated  in  the  discussion  are 
not  given.  This  is  true  of  Oecolampadius'  report  : 
But  a  report  has  also  been  preserved  which  was  pre- 
pared by  Hubmeier  and  printed  at  Nicolsburg  in 

1  Herzog,  Das  Leben  J.  Oeholampads,  i,  s.  505. 

2  August  8,  1525,  Oecolampadins  wrote  to  Berthold  Haller, 
but  made  no  reference  to  the  discussion.  Oecolampadius'  report, 
as  is  said  above,  bears  date  of  September,  1825. 

8  Ein  gesprech  etlicher  predicanten  zu  Basel,  gehalten  mitt  etlich- 
en  bekenern  des  Wider iouffs. 
4  Das  Leben  J.  Oekolampads.  i,  s.  307. 


EFFORTS  TO  STAY  ITS  PROGRESS.  135 

1527,  ■  in  which  Hubmeier  appears  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  Anabaptists.  It  is  evident  from  the 
verbal  uniformity  of  these  two  reports  in  part  that 
Hubmeier  had  the  report  of  his  opponent  before  him 
as  he  wrote. 

The  Anabaptists,  says  Oecolampadius,  opened  the 
discussion,  giving  God  thanks  that  such  a  meeting 
had  been  arranged.  They  had  responded  to  the  call 
in  brotherly  love,  and  it  was  their  prayer  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  might  be  present.  Oecolampadius,  in 
entering  upon  the  discussion,  claimed  that  the  doc- 
trinal views  of  the  Anabaptists  were  new.  Hub- 
meier answered  that  this  was  an  old  cry.  "  It  was 
objected  to  the  teachings  of  Christ  that  they  were 
new.  The  Athenians  spoke  of  Paul's  doctrine  as 
new.  The  important  point  in  reference  to  these 
views  is,  are  they  right  ?  If  they  are,  why  are  we 
assailed  ?  If  they  are  not  right,  let  it  be  shown  from 
the  Scriptures,  and  then  punish  us." 

Referring  to  infant  baptism,  Oecolampadius  said, 
"  I  know  from  the  historians,  that  infant  baptism  has 
never  been  forbidden  from  the  time  of  the  apostles 
to  the  present  day."  He  then  cited  the  church  Fathers 
— Augustine,  Cyprian,  Origen — to  show  that  infant 

i  Von  dem  khindertauff.  Ecolampadius  Thomas  Augustiniancr 
Leesmaister,  H.  Jacob  lmmele?i,  R.  Vuolffg.  Weissenburger,  Balth. 
Ilubmur  von  Fridberg.  Nicolspurg  1527. 


136  THE    ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

baptism  was  practiced  in  early  times.  Hubmeier 
reminded  Oecolampadius  that  the  word  of  God  is  the 
rule  in  such  a  matter.  "  Either,"  he  said,  "  you 
must  show  clearly  from  the  Scriptures  that  infant 
baptism  is  of  God's  planting,  or  it  must  be  rooted 
up."  It  was  also  claimed  that  as  the  apostles  spoke 
of  the  baptism  of  whole  households,  these  must  pro- 
bably have  contained  infants ;  and  that  baptism  takes 
the  place  of  circumcision.  There  was  also  the  usual 
reference  to  the  passage,  "  Suffer  the  little  children 
to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not."  As  Oeco- 
lampadius presented  the  different  points,  assisted  at 
times  by  his  associates,  Jacob  Imeli,  Wolfgang  Wis- 
senburger  and  Thomas  Geyerfalk,  Hubmeier  skill- 
fully replied,  pressing  his  opponents  for  clear  Scrip- 
ture proofs.  After  the  discussion  the  Anabaptists 
claimed  that  the  victory  was  with  them,  and  Her- 
zog  *  says  :  "  From  what  has  come  down  to  us  con- 
cerning this  discussion,  the  claim  is  not  a  matter  of 
surprise.  The  only  direct  consequence  of  the  whole 
affair  was  to  confirm  the  Anabaptists  in  their  posi- 
tion." 

Early  in  October  Blaurock  was  in  Hinwyl,  and  he 
presented  his  claim,  as  a  messenger  of  God,  to  de- 
clare the  word.     The  bailiff  of  Griiningen,  who  hap- 

1  Das  Leben  J.  Oekolampads,  i,  s.  312. 


EFFORTS  TO  STAY  ITS  PROGRESS.  137 

pened  to  be  in  the  neighborhood,  appeared  at  the 
church,  and  called  on  the  people  to  aid  him  in  arrest- 
ing Blaurock.  But  no  one  volunteered,  and  no  one 
would  obey  his  orders.'  So,  taking  the  matter  into 
his  own  hands,  he  seized  the  unresisting  preacher, 
placed  him  upon  his  servant's  horse,  and  bore  him 
off  in  triumph,  many  of  Blaurock's  friends  accompany- 
ing. On  the  way,  the  bailiff  discovered  another 
Baptist  assembly  at  Bezholz,  and  halting  in  his 
march  he  ordered  those  present  to  abandon  their 
heretical  doctrines.  They  replied  that  they  desired 
first  to  be  confronted  by  the  Scriptures.  Grebel  was 
arrested,  while  Mantz,  who  had  been  released  from 
prison  only  the  day  before,  October  7,1  escaped,2 
he  was  rearrested,  however,  three  weeks  later.3 

The  excitement  was  great  in  the  Griiningen  dis- 
trict, and  it  seemed  best  that  a  public  discussion 
should  be  held,  at  which  both  radicals  and  conserva- 
tives should  be  largely  represented.  The  Zurich 
Council  accordingly  issued  a  call  for  such  a  discus- 
sion at  Zurich,  November  6.  The  prominent  men  of 
both  parties  were  present,  except  Hubmeier,  who 
was  expected,  but  did  not  appear.     The  meeting  was 

1  Egli,  Actensammlung,  394  N.  834. 

2  Egli,  Die  ZiiricherWiedertaufer,  s.  45,  Actensammlung,  395,  Nr. 
837. 

3  Egli,  Actensammlung,  400,  Nr.  850. 


138  THE   ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

held  in  the  great  Council  Hall,  and  with  open  doors ; 
but  the  crowd  was  so  great  that  the  assembly  ad- 
journed to  the  Cathedral.  The  discussion  was  di- 
rected to  these  points.  *  1.  The  children  of  Chris- 
tians are  not  less  God's  children  than  those  of  Jews. 
2.  Baptism  takes  the  place  of  circumcision.  3.  Ana- 
baptism  has  no  warrant  in  the  Scriptures,  and  those 
who  allow  themselves  to  be  rebaptized  crucify  Christ 
afresh. 

When  Zwingli  and  his  associates  appealed  to  the 
covenant  which  God  made  with  Abraham,  of  which 
circumcision  was  the  sign,  and  drew  from  it  the  infer- 
ence that  God  had  made  a  like  covenant  with  Chris- 
tians, of  which  baptism  was  the  sign,  the  Anabaptists 
demanded  the  passage,  or  passages,  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  which  infant  baptism  was  as  clearly  com- 
manded as  the  circumcision  of  infants  in  the.  Old 
Testament.  They  granted  that  the  covenant  which 
God  made  with  Abraham  was  continued  in  the  New 
Dispensation,  and  was  in  this  respect  an  eternal 
covenant.  Christians  are  therefore  the  people  of 
God,  yet  before  his  baptism  no  one  enters  into  this 
covenant  relation.  When  Zwingli  cited  Mark  10  :  14, 
as  a  proof  that  Christ  himself  had  said  concerning 
children.     "  Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven/'  the 

1  Bullinger,  Reformationsgeschichte,  i,  b.  295. 


EFFORTS  TO  STAY  ITS  PROGRESS.  139 

Anabaptists  called  attention  to  the  word  "  such," 
and  claimed  that  it  meant  such  as  have  the  childlike 
spirit. 

As  to  the  point  that  baptism  takes  the  place  of 
circumcision,  the  Anabaptists  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  circumcision  was  enjoined  upon  one  sex 
only ;  while  baptism  was  for  both  sexes.  When 
Zwingli  said  that  circumcision  and  baptism  were 
alike  in  this,  that  both  were  outward  signs  of  recep- 
tion into  the  family  of  God,  the  Anabaptists  granted 
this  reference  to  circumcision,  claiming,  however, 
that  this  privilege  was  not  conditioned  first  of  all 
upon  circumcision,  but  upon  Abrahamic  descent. 
With  Christians  such  descent  counted  as  nothing. 
Their  participation  in  the  divine  blessing  was  de- 
pendent upon  their  faith  in  God,  of  which  baptism  is 
the  sign  and  confirmation.  It  is  necessary  therefore, 
that  one  should  have  faith  and  knowledge,  which  are 
wanting  in  infants.  Inasmuch,  then,  as  among  the 
Israelites  one  might  without  faith  and  knowledge 
belong  to  the  people  of  the  covenant,  among  Chris- 
tians this  was  not  possible ;  accordingly,  between  the 
two  no  parallel  could  be  drawn. 

In  discussing  the  third  point,  one  party  asked  for 
proof  that  only  adults  are  to  be  baptized,  and  the 
other  that  the  ordinance  of  baptism  is  to  be  extended 
to  infants.      The  Anabaptists  appealed  to  the   fact 


140  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

that  the  Scriptures  insist  upon  instruction  before 
baptism.  To  this  it  was  replied  that  in  Matt.  28, 
instruction  was  enjoined  after  baptism. 1 

During  the  discussion  Zwingli  said  that  the  Ana- 
baptist were  separatists.  The  Anabaptists  replied 
that  this  name  had  not  been  given  to  them  alone ; 
and  that  they  had  as  good  a  right  to  separate  from 
the  fellowship  of  Zwingli,  as  he  had  to  withdraw 
from  the  fellowship  of  the  Pope. 

The  discussion  on  the  third  day  seems  to  have 
become  general,  the  common  people  taking  part  as 
well  as  the  leaders ;  and  at  length  the  assembly  broke 
up  in  confusion.  Both  parties  claimed  the  victory. 
The  Anabaptist  leaders,  Grebel,  Mantz,  and  Blau- 
rock,  with  others,  were  now  summoned  before  the 
Council  and  called  upon  to  retract  their  errors.  But 
all  appeals  in  this  direction  were  in  vain,  and  they 
were  remanded  to  prison.  Grebel,  Mantz,  and 
Blaurock  were  loaded  with  chains ;  2  the  others 
were  less  severely  dealt  with.  Opposition  to  the 
Council,  it  was  evident,  was  no  longer  to  be  tolerated. 

November  5,  the  day  before  the  discussion  opened, 
Zwingli  wrote  the  preface  to  his  reply  to  Hubmeier's 
tract     Concerning    the    Christian  Baptism  of   Be- 

1  Concerning  the  discussion  see  Starck,  Geschichte  der  Taufe,  s. 
176-178. 

2  Starck,  Geschichte  der  Taufe,  s.  179. 


EFFORTS  TO  STAY  ITS  TROGRESS.  141 

lievers.  The  reply  1  was  marked  by  bitterness, 
not  merely  in  Zwingli's  reference  to  Hubmeier's 
views,  but  to  Hubmeier  himself,  for  whom  hitherto 
he  had  had  only  words  of  hearty  praise.  Hubmeier, 
who  was  still  at  Waldshut,  penned  a  reply,  which 
was  completed  November  30,  but  was  not  printed 
(for  reasons  that  will  hereafter  appear)  until  the  fol- 
lowing year,  and  in  another  land. 

The  Anabaptists  in  the  Gruningen  district,  who 
returned  to  their  homes  after  the  Zurich  Conference, 
November  6-8,  were  reminded  by  the  Council,  in  a 
communication,  2  that  they  had  been  defeated  in  the 
recent  discussion,  and  that  they  had  promised  that 
if  they  should  be  better  informed  out  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, they  would  readily  acknowledge  it.  This  they 
had  not  done,  and  the  Council  now  wished  to  know 
whether  they  would  stand  by  them  in  their  effort  to 
secure  the  obedience  of  the  obstinate  Anabaptists  and 
their  adherents,  or  whether  they  intended  to  give 
the  latter  their  aid.  It  was  the  purpose  of  the 
Council,  it  was  stated  in  closing,  "  to  root  out "  the 
Anabaptists,  and  the  Gruningen  people  were  ex- 
horted to  show  their  good  will  to  the  Council  in  this 
and  other  things.  But  evidently  the  latter  did  not 
consider  that  the  Anabaptists  were  defeated  in  the  re- 

1  Zwingli,  Werhe.  Bd.  ii.  abt.  i.  343-369. 

2  Fussliu,  Bcytragci  ii.  s.  2SG-292. 


142  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

cent  discussion.  Certainly,  they  were  not  inclined  to 
heed  the  injunctions  of  the  Council,  and  at  Hinwyl 
showed  their  opposition  to  the  Zwinglian  pastors, 
who  at  length  called  upon  the  Council  for  instructions 
as  to  the  manner  in  which  he  should  act.  *  The 
Council  replied  November  18,  in  a  communication 
addressed  to  the  churches  in  the  district ;  and  on  the 
same  day,  2  Grebel,  Mantz,  and  Blaurock  were  for- 
mally sentenced  to  imprisonment  in  the  New  Tower, 
to  be  kept  on  bread  and  water,  and  to  be  denied  the 
visits  of  their  friends  so  long  as  the  Council  saw  fit. 
Margaret  Hottinger,  of  Zollikon,  was  sentenced  to 
imprisonment  in  the  Wellenberg,  while  the  Anabap- 
tists who  lived  beyond  the  borders  of  the  Canton, 
viz :  Ulrich  Teck  of  Waldshut,  Martin  Ling  of 
Schaffhausen,  and  Michael  Sattler  3  of  Staufen,  in 
Breisgau,  were  banished.  Throughout  the  district 
an  order  was  circulated  that  the  Baptists  had  had  a 
sufficient  hearing,  and  that  further  opposition  to   the 

1  Egli,  Actensammlung,  404,  Nr.  856. 

2  Egli,  Die  Zilricher  Wiedertaufcr,  s.  48. 

8  Sattler  was  afterward  in  Strasburg,  May  21,  1527,  at  Rothen- 
burg,  on  the  Neckar  (Fusslin,  Beytr'dge.  ii,  s.  374-378,)  his  tongue 
was  torn  out,  his  body  was  lacerated  with  red  hot  tongs,  and  then 
burned.  His  wife  was  drowned  in  the  Neckar  (Fusslin,  Bey- 
tr'dge, ii,  s.  381).  Sattler's  character  was  such  that  the  Strasburg 
evangelical  pastors,  after  his  death,  did  not  hesitate  to  call  him 
a  martyr  of  Christ  (Rohrich,  Reformation  in  JSlsass.  i,  s.  332).  The 


EFFORTS  TO  STAY  ITS  PROGRESS.  143 

magistracy  would  be  regarded  as  unjustifiable,  insist- 
ing also  on  obedience  to  the  Council,  and  inviting 
the  Anabaptists  to  a  special  assembly  on  Thursday, 
November  21,  for  a  formal  recantation,  so  that  here- 
after the  obedient  might  not  suffer  with  the  disobe- 
dient. '  But  the  injunction  was  not  generally 
heeded.  The  assembly  met,  and  continued  from 
noon  until  midnight ;  but  of  more  than  one  hundred 
Anabaptists  who  were  present  only  thirteen  recanted.2 
The  Governor  advised  severer  measures,  and  his  ad- 
vice was  adopted ;  but  in  the  discharging  of  the  new 
duties  imposed  upon  them  the  officers  found  them- 
selves greatly  perplexed.  One  of  them  said  he  knew 
not  which  way  to  turn. 

November  30,  the  Council  of  Zurich  issued  the  fol- 

seventh  hymn,  the  Anabaptist  collection,  Auss  Bundt,  is  by  Sat- 
tler,  and  has  the  ring  of  a  martyr  spirit : 

"  Doch  fdrcht  ench  nicht  vor  solchem  mann, 
Der  nur  den  leib  getodten  kan. 

Sonder  forcht  mehr  den  treuen  Gott, 
Der  beydes  zu  verdammen  hat. 
*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

0  Christe  hilff  du  deinem  Volck, 
Welchs  dir  in  aller  treu  nachfolgt. 

Dass  es  durch  deinen  bittern  Todt, 
Erlb'set  wird  auss  aller  noht. 

1  Egli,  Actensammlung ,  406,  Nr.  864. 

4  Fiisslin,  Beytriige,  iii,  207.     Egli,  Actensammlung,  409,   Nr. 
870. 


141  THE  ANABAPTIST3  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

lowing  mandate,1  to  the  inhabitants   of  the  Griin- 
ingen  district : 

"  Ye  doubtless  know,  and  have  heard  from  many- 
persons,  how,  that  for  a  long  time  past,  certain  men, 
who  appear  to  be  learned,  have  vehemently  arisen, 
and  without  any  support  from  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
have  pretended,  and  preached  among  simple  and  pious 
men,  (who  are  otherwise  well  instructed  in  the  love 
of  God  and  of  their  neighbor,  and  live  in  peace  with 
one  another),  and  without  the  permission  and  con- 
sent of  the  church  have  proclaimed,  that  infant  bap- 
tism is  not  of  Grod,  but  has  sprung  from  the  devil, 
and  therefore  ought  not  to  be  practiced.  They  have 
also  invented  a  rebaptism  ;  and  many,  even  unlearned 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  taken  with  their  vain  talk 
and  so  far  persuaded,  have  received  this  rebaptism, 
esteeming  themselves  better  than  other  people. 
Whence  have  arisen  and  grown  up  discord,  disobe- 
dience, contention,  devourings,  strifes  against  love, 
in  places,  and  among  men  who  formerly  lived  in 
unanimity.  Therefore  have  we  imprisoned,  and  pun- 
ished for  their  good,  some  of  the  authors  of  Anabaptism 
and  their  disciples,  and  have  twice,  at  their  desire,  or- 
dained conferences,  or  discussions,  on  infant-baptism 
and  rebaptism.  And  notwithstanding  that  they  were 
in  all  cases  overcome,  and  some  of  them  have  been 
1  Bullinger,  Reformationsgeschichte,  i,  s.  .290-208. 


EFFORTS  TO  STAY  ITS  PROGRESS.  145 

let  go  unpunished,  because  they  promised  to  abstain 
from  rebaptism  ;  and  others  have  been  banished  from 
our  jurisdiction  and  bounds ;  yet  have  they,  disre- 
garding their  promise,  again  come  among  you,  and 
have  sown  their  false  doctrine  against  infant  baptism 
among  the  simple  people.  Whence  has  arisen  a  new 
sect  of  Anabaptists.  Therefore,  we  have  imprisoned 
these  Baptists,  and  punished  their  followers  for  their 
own  good. 

"  And  as  some  of  the  Anabaptists  among  you  called 
for  a  conference,  or  discussion,  we  agreed  thereto,  in 
addition  to  the  conferences  already  held,  and  sum- 
moned all  who  would  defend  Anabaptism,  to  appear 
before  us  on  Monday  after  All  Saints'  day. 

"  But  when  the  Anabaptists,  Conrad  Grebel,  Felix 
Mantz,  George  Blaurock,  and  their  followers  had  dis- 
cussed for  three  whole  days,  from  morning  to  night, 
with  Ulrich  Zwingli,  Leo  Jud,  and  Caspar  Grossman 
and  others  who  defended  infant  baptism,  in  our  Coun- 
cil Hall  and  the  Cathedral,  in  our  presence  and  in 
the  presence  of  many  men  and  women,  each  one  of 
the  Anabaptists  having  expressed  his  views  without 
hindrance,  it  was  found,  by  the  sure  testimonies  of 
Holy  Scripture,  both  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testa- 
ments, that  Zwingli  and  his  followers  had  overcome 
the  Anabaptists,  annihilated  Anabaptism,  and  estab- 
lished infant  baptism. 


146  THE   ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

"  Moreover,  in  the  same  discussion,  it  clearly  ap- 
peared that  the  authors  of  Anabaptism,  by  whom  these 
gatherings  and  sects  were  first  raised,  and  for  which 
they  strive,  were  actuated  in  this  affair  by  a  bold  and 
shameless  mind,  and  not  by  a  good  spirit,  intending 
to  gather  around  them  a  separate  people  and  sect, 
contrary  to  God's  command,  in  contempt  of  the  civil 
magistrate,  to  the  planting  of  every  kind  of  disobe- 
dience, and  to  the  destruction  of  Christian  love  to 
neighbors.  For,  as  we  have  already  said,  they  re- 
gard themselves  as  without  sin  and  better  than  their 
fellow  Christians,  as  their  words,  actions,  and  life 
clearly  testify. 

"  Therefore,  we  ordain,  and  it  is  our  earnest  pur- 
pose that  henceforth  all  men,  women,  boys,  and  girls 
abstain  from  Anabaptism,  and  practice  it  no  longer, 
but  baptize  the  young  children.  For  whoever  shall 
act  contrary  to  this  order,  shall,  as  often  as  he  dis- 
obeys, be  punished  by  a  fine  of  a  silver  mark ;  and  if 
any  shall  prove  disobedient,  we  will  deal  with  him 
farther  and  punish  him  according  to  his  deserts  with- 
out further  forgiveness.     Let  each  act  accordingly. 

"And  all  this  we  confirm  by  this  writing  which 
bears  our  city  seal,  and  given  on  St.  Andrew's  Day, 
Anno  Domini,  1525." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

FATE   OF   SOME  OF   THE   LEADERS. 

In  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1525  the  storm  was 
gathering  around  Waldshut.  Zurich  supportedWalds- 
hut,  in  its  opposition  to  Austrian  rule,  so  long  as 
Hubmeier  and  his  people  were  in  agreement  with 
Zwingli;  but  when  it  became  apparent  that  dif- 
ferences had  arisen,  Zurich  at  once  withdrew  its  sup- 
port. 

A  clearer  view  of  these  differences  was  had  in  a 
tract  which  Hubmeier  finished  November  30,  the 
day  on  which  the  Zurich  Council  issued  its  mandate 
to  the  people  in  the  Griiningen  district,  and  which 
had  reference  to  Zwingli's  recent  work  on  Baptism. 
It  is  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue  between  Zwingli  and 
Hubmeier,  in  which  the  utterances  of  Zwingli  are 
taken,  as  Hubmeier  affirms,  from  Zwingli's  published 
writings.  For  reasons  that  will  soon  appear,  the 
tract  was  not  printed  until  the  following  year,  and 
then  at  Nicolsburg  in  Moravia.  l 

1  Ein  gesprech  Balthasar  Hubmors  von  Fridberg,  Doctors, 
auf  Mayster  Vlrichs  Zwingleus  zu  Ziirch  Tauffbuchlen  von 
dem  Kindertauff.      Die  Warhayt  ist  untodlich.  Nicolspurg,  1526. 

147 


148  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

In  tliis  tract,  with  good  judgment  and  dialectic 
skill,  Hubmeier  meets  the  objections  which  Zwingli 
and  his  friends  were  accustomed  to  bring  against  the 
position  of  the  Swiss  Anabaptists.  The  following 
passages  illustrate  the  spirit  and  ability  manifested 
by  Hubmeier  in  this  dialogue. 

"  Baptism,"  he  says,  "  is  the  ordinance  of  Christ. 
It  is  not  enough  that  one  believes  in  Jesus,  he  must 
confess  him  openly.  He  who  confesses  Christ  before 
men,  Christ  will  confess  before  his  Father.  The  di- 
vine order  is,  first,  the  preaching  of  the  word ;  second, 
faith  ;  and  third,  baptism. 

"  Zwingli.  Those  people  who  now  suffer  them- 
selves to  be  rebaptized  intend  to  establish  a  church 
composed  of  sinless  persons. 

"  Hubmeier.  You  do  us  injustice.  If  we  say  we 
have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves  and  the  truth  is  not 
in  us. 

"  Z.  You  reject  infant  baptism,  in  order  that  you 
may  set  up  Anabaptism. 

"  H.  You  have  not  produced  a  single  passage  to 
prove  that  infant  baptism  is  baptism.  You  should 
remember  what  you  said  in  opposition  to  Faber,1 
namely,  that  all  truth  is  clearly  revealed  in  the  word 
of  God.  If  now  infant  baptism  is  a  truth,  show  us 
the  Scripture  in  which  it  is  found.  If  you  do  not, 
1  At  the  First  Zurich  Discussion. 


FATE  OF  SOME  OF  THE  LEADERS.       149 

the  Vicar  will  complain  that  you  have  used  against 
him  a  sword,  which  you  now  lay  aside. 

"  Z.  Should  it  be  granted  that  every  one  may 
adopt  such  views  as  he  pleases,  and  not  ask  the 
church  concerning  them,  error  will  increase. 

"H.  We  should  consult  the  Scriptures,  not  the. 
church.  Now  show  us  the  passage  in  the  Scriptures 
in  which  God  requires  us  to  baptize  infants  ?  The 
church  is  built  upon  the  word,  and  not  the  word 
upon  the  church. 

"  Z.  You  say  that  we  must  have  all  things  common. 

"  H.  I  have  always  said  in  reference  to  communi- 
ty of  goods,  that  one  man  should  have  regard  to  oth- 
ers, so  that  the  hungry  may  be  fed,  the  thirsty  re- 
ceive drink,  and  the  naked  be  clothed ;  for  we  are 
not  lords,  but  stewards.  There  is  certainly  no  one 
who  says  that  all  things  should  be  common. 

"  Z.  Those  who  are  opposed  to  infant  baptism  hold 
that  no  one  can  be  saved  without  water  baptism. 

"  H.  You  do  us  injustice.  We  know  that  salva- 
tion is  conditioned  neither  on  baptism  nor  on  works 
of  mercy.  Condemnation  is  the  result  not  of  a 
neglect  of  baptism,  but  of  unbelief  alone. 

"  Z.  The  thief  on  the  cross  believed,  and  on  the 
same  day  was  with  Christ  in  Paradise ;  yet  he  was 
not  baptized  with  outward  baptism. 

"  H.  The  man  who  has  the  excuse  of  the  thief  on 


150  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

the  cross  will  have  the  favor  of  God  though  unbap- 
tized.  When  this  excuse,  however,  is  wanting  the 
word  of  Christ  holds  true,  that  whosoever  does  not 
believe  is  condemned ;  also  those  other  words,  '  He 
who  belie veth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved.' 

"  Z.  Those  opposed  to  infant  baptism  say  that  bap- 
tism is  such  a  sign  that  no  one  should  receive  it  until 
he  knows  that  he  can  live  without  sin. 

"  H.  Ah,  my  Zwingli,  say  this  to  those  who  hold 
such  a  view,  and  do  not  condemn  the  innocent  with 
the  guilty. 

"  Z.  I  will  prove  that  we  are  all  sinners. 

"  H.  Hold  !  There  is  no  need  of  proof.  We  know 
this  from  the  First  Epistle  of  John,  chapters  1  and 
5  ;  also  from  Psalms,  14,  51. 

"  Z.  Since  no  man  arrives  at  perfection  of  faith  upon 
earth,  you  must  affirm  that  when  a  man  begins  to  be 
instructed  he  is  to  be  baptized  in  water. 

"  H.  We  are  content  with  this  statement.  Yet  by 
beginning  to  be  instructed  is  meant  that  the  man 
recognizes  his  sinfulness  and  believes  in  the  forgive- 
ness of  his  sins  through.  Jesus  Christ. 

"  Z.  We  are  ready  to  admit  that  John  first  gave 
instruction,  and  afterward  baptized,  but  no  one  can 
deny  that  those  who  were  thus  instructed  also  had 
their  untaught  children  baptized. 

"  H.  0  my  Zwingli,  how  can  you  say  this  in  op- 


FATE  OF  SOME  OF  THE  LEADERS.  151 

position  to  the  passage  in  Matthew  3,  which  shows 
that  those  whom  John  baptized  confessed  their  sins  ? 

"  Z.  But  that  passage  says  that  all  Judea,  and  the 
region  about  Jordan,  and  Jerusalem,  went  out  to  him 
and  were  baptized  by  him  in  Jordan.  Here  one  may 
say  that  if  the  whole  multitude  went  out,  we  should 
expect  that  there   were  children  who  went  out  also. 

"  H.  Might  not  one  also  say  we  should  expect  that 
Annas,  Caiaphas,  Pilate,  and  Herod  went  out  and 
were  baptized  ?  It  matters  not  what  we  think  or 
expect.     We  must  be  governed  by  the  Scriptures. 

"  Z.  The  opponents  of  infant  baptism,  if  I  under- 
stand them,  ascribe  too  much  to  water-baptism. 

"  H.  We  ascribe  nothing  whatever  to  water-bap- 
tism. It  is  an  ordinance  instituted  by  Christ,  and 
by  the  apostles,  and  received  by  believers.  I  appeal 
to  the  Scriptures.     Let  them  decide. 

"  Z.  Our  Anabaptists  here  found  a  reason  why  they 
should  be  rebaptized.  They  say  either  our  first  bap- 
tism was  Romish  baptism,  or  we  do  not  know  whether 
we  were  baptized  or  not. 

"  H.  You  do  us  injustice.  We  had  not  been  bap- 
tized, and  the  believer  should  be  baptized.  Other- 
wise we  make  the  words  of  Christ  of  no  effect.  .  .  . 
.  .  .  We  know  of  no  anabaptism,  and  are  not  He- 
mero-Baptists. 

"  H.  God  enjoins  baptism,  yet  upon  those  instruc- 


152  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

ted  in  his  word,  believers.  Where  then  is  infant 
baptism  ? 

"  Z.  Why  do  you  make  a  distinction  among  men  ? 
Are  children  people  or  not  ?  If  they  are  men  or 
people,  you  must  allow  them  to  be  baptized. 

"  H.  This  argument  is  as  good  for  the  Turks  as  for 
the  children  of  Christians.  The  Turks  are  people 
also." 

Near  the  close  of  the  tract  we  find  these  theses, 
which  Hubmeier  says  he  will  maintain  with  God's 
help  against  all  opponents  : 

1.  No  element  or  outward  thing  in  this  world 
can  cleanse  the  soul,  but  faith  purifies  the  hearts  of 
men. 

2.  It  follows  that  baptism  cannot  wash  away  sin. 

3.  If  therefore  it  cannot  wash  away  sin,  and  yet  is 
from  God,  it  must  be  a  public  testimony  of  inward 
faith,  and  an  outward  pledge  to  lead  henceforth  a  new 
life  as  God  gives  grace. 

4.  Whether  the  children  of  Christians,  and  the 
children  of  the  Old  Testament,  are  children  of  God, 
we  leave  to  him  who  knows  all  things,  and  do  not 
make  ourselves  judges. 

In  December,  1525,  Waldshut  fell  into  the  hands 
of  Austria.  The  Anabaptists  fled,  among  them  Hub- 
meier, who,  passing  by  Zurich,  soon  appeared  in  the 


FATE  OF  SOME  OF  THE  LEADERS.      153 

Gruningen  district.  He  was  received  with  great  en- 
thusiasm by  the  Anabaptists.  They  were  familiar 
with  his  tracts  in  opposition  to  Zwingli,  and  they  saw 
in  him,  not  only  a  brother  in  the  faith,  but  a  prophet 
mighty  in  word  and  deed.  His  lips,  however,  were 
sealed,  and  he  was  safe  only  as  all  knowledge  of  his 
place  of  retirement  was  kept  from  the  officers,  who 
were  ready  to  seize  any  non-resident  Baptist,  and 
send  him  across  the  borders.  And  so,  in  disguise, 
Hubmeier  made  his  way  to  Zurich,  where  about 
New  Year's  Day,  1526,  he  found  a  refuge,  at  first  in 
the  house  of  Henry  Aberli,  an  Anabaptist,  and  then  at 
the  Green  Shield,  a  public  house  kept  by  a  woman 
and  her  daughter,  who  had  been  baptized  by  Aberli 
a  week  or  two  before,1  and  to  whom,  on  the  night 
of  Hubmeier's  arrival  in  Zurich,  Aberli  conducted 
Hubmeier.  There  he  remained  from  Friday  until 
Monday,  when,  his  presence  in  the  city  having  been 
discovered,  he  was  arrested  by  order  of  the  Council, 
and  kept  under  guard  (libera  custodia)  in  the  City 
Hall. 

A  few  days  after,   Zwingli,   Engelhard,   Leo  Jud, 

1  Aberli,  who  was  arrested,  was  fined  January  15,  fifteen  pounds 
for  disobedience  of  the  mandate  against  baptism,  and  five  pounds 
more  for  every  one  whom  he  had  baptized,  to  be  paid  before  his 
release  from  prison.  The  woman  and  her  daughter  were  fined 
five  pounds  each.     Egli,  Actensammlung,  428,  9,  Nr.  910. 

7* 


154  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

Myconius,  Sebastian  Hofmeister,  and  Megan der  had 
an  interview  with  Hubmeier,  and  there  was  some 
discussion  between  Zwingli  and  Hubmeier  in  refer- 
ence to  infant  baptism.  In  a  letter x  to  Peter  Gyno- 
rans,  written  in  September,  1526,  Zwingli  gives  an 
account  of  this  conference,  and  says  that  at  length, 
Hubmeier,  of  his  own  accord,  offered  to  recant  his 
Anabaptist  errors,  and  indeed  wrote  his  recantation 
with  his  own  hand.  Bullinger's2  testimony  is  of 
like  import.  Hubmeier  himself,  in  one  of  his  tracts 
published  a  few  months  after,  referring  to  his  treat- 
ment at  Zurich,  says  he  offered  to  discuss  with 
Zwingli,  and,  if  found  in  error,  he  declared  his  willing- 
ness to  be  punished  by  sword,  fire,  or  water ;  while 
if  Zwingli  was  in  error  he  only  asked  that  the  Zurich 
preacher  should  recognize  his  error  and  henceforth 
teach  the  truth.  But  his  offer  was  rejected.  "  They 
compelled  me  [or  endeavored  to  compel  me],  a  sick 
man,  just  risen  from  a  bed  of  death  ;  hunted,  exiled, 
and  having  lost  all  I  had,  to  teach  another  faith."  3 

1  Zwingli,  Opera,   vii.  i.  abt.  536. 

2  IZeformationsgeschichte,  i.  s.  304. 

3  Mann  wolt  raich  ye  als  einen  krancken  menschen,  der  aller 
erst  von  dem  todbett  auffgestanden,  verjagt,  vertribenn,  und  alles 
was  ich  gehabt  verloren,  durch  den  Hencker  eincn  anndern  glau- 
ben  leeren.  Ein  gesprech  Balthasar  Hubmors  von  Fridberg,  Doc- 
tors, Auf  May  der  Vlrichs  Zwingleus  zu  Z'drch  Tauffbuchlen,  von 
dem  Kindertauff.     Nicolspurg.    1526. 


FATE  OF  SOME  OF  THE  LEADERS.       155 

This  view  is  supported  by  Faber,  the  representative 
of  the  Bishop  of  Constance  at  the  first  Zurich  discus- 
sion, who  says  Hubmeier  was  subjected  to  the  rack 
until  he  consented  to  make  a  public  recantation.  1 

Arrangements  were  at  once  made  for  an  impres- 
sive scene.  According  to  Zwingli  and  Bullinger, 
Hubmeier  was  brought  into  the  Cathedral  for  a  pub- 
lic renunciation  of  his  former  errors.  The  vast  edi- 
fice was  crowded  with  people  whom  this  novel  occa- 
sion had  called  together.  First  there  was  a  sermon 
by  Zwingli.  Then  Hubmeier  ascended  the  pulpit, 
but  instead  of  retracting  his  Anabaptist  views,  to  the 
amazement  of  all  he  declared  his  opposition  to  infant 
baptism,  and  defended  rebaptism.  A  tumult  was  at 
once  raised,  the  address  was  suddenly  brought  to  a 
close,  and  Hubmeier  was  removed  to  a  cell  in  the 
Wellenberg,  where,  as  Faber  says,  cruel  imprison- 
ment followed  until  the  weary  sufferer  was  willing  to 
renounce  Anabaptism  as  heresy.     It  was  at  this  time, 


probably,  that  the  written  recantation  was  secured 
from  him,  and  April  6,  he  was  brought  into  the 
Cathedral  to  read  it  in  public.  Afterward,  by  request 
of  the  bailiff  of  the  Gruningen  district^ the  recantation 
was  repeated  at  Gossau. 

1  See  his  tract,  Ursach  warumb  der  Widerteufer  Patron  unnd 
erster  Anfenger,  Doctor  Balthasar  Hubmayer  zu  Wienn  auff  den 
Zehendten  tag  Mdrtz,  Anno  1523,  verbrennt  sey. 


156  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

"  This  written  recantation  has  been  preserved.  '     In 
it  Hubmeier  says  that  hitherto  with  other  Anabaptists 
he  had  held  that  believers  only  should  be  baptized  ; 
but  now  Zwingli   had   called   his  attention  to   the 
covenant  which  God  made  with  Abraham  and  his 
seed,  and  also  to  circumcision,  as  a  sign  of  the  cove- 
nant, and  had  shown  him  how  baptism  takes  the  place 
of  circumcision.     He  also  refers   to  the   arguments 
of  Leo   Jud,  Sebastian  Hofmeister,  and   Myconius. 
Moved  by  all  these,  at  last,  he  says,  he  has  surren- 
dered his  previous  opinion  that  children  ought  not  to 
be  baptized,  and  confesses  that  he  had  erred  concern- 
ing Anabaptism.      He  had  never  said,  however,  that 
a  Christian  should  not  hold  a  civil  office,  but  had  al- 
ways maintained  that  the  more  of  the  spirit  of  Christ 
one  possessed  the  better  he  would  rule  as  a   magis- 
trate.    He  had  never  said  that  all  things  should  be 
common.     He  held,   however,  that  those  who  have 
an  abundance  should  not  see  their  neighbors  suffer, 
but  should  share  with  the  hungry,   the  thirsty,    and 
the  naked.     As  to  baptism,  he  had  not  baptized  any 
in  the  Canton  of  Zurich.     He  had  never  said  he  was 
without  sin,  but  had  always  confessed  that  he  was  a 
poor  sinner,  conceived  in  sin,  and  would  remain  a  sin- 
ner until  death.     Since  now  Augustine,  and    many 

1  Egli  Actensammlung,  449,  Nr.  940.     See  also,  431,  Nr.  911. 


FATE  OF  SOME  OF  THE  LEADERS.  157 

others  after  him  to  that  time,  had  erred  concerning 
baptism,  he  asked  that  he  might  be  forgiven,  as  God 
forgives  our  sins ;  and,  calling  attention  to  his  severe 
illness  and  poverty,  he  made  the  additional  request, 
that  he  should  not  be  delivered  into  the  hands  of  his 
enemies,  referring  to  the  Austrians. 

From  Hubmeier's  subsequent  life,  however,  it  is 
evident  that  in  this  recantation,  so  far  as  his  views  in 
reference  to  baptism  are  concerned,  he  did  violence 
to  his  unshaken  convictions.  What  he  had  feared 
came  to  pass.  During  his  prison  hours  he  composed, 
in  the  form  of  prayers,  his  Twelve  Articles  of 
Faith,  of  which  the  following  are  the  closing  words  : 
"  0  holy  God,  0  almighty  God,  0  immortal  God, 
this  is  my  faith.  I  confess  it  with  heart  and 
mouth,  and  have  testified  it  publicly  before  the 
Church  in  baptism.  I  faithfully  pray  thee,  graciously 
keep  me  in  it  until  my  end  ;  and  should  I  be  forced 
from  it  out  of  mortal  fear  and  timidity,  by  tyranny, 
torture,  sword,  fire,  or  water,  I  now  appeal  to  thee. 
0  my  compassionate  Father,  raise  me  up  again  by 
the  grace  of  thy  Holy  Spirit,  and  suffer  me  not  to  de- 
part without  this  faith.  This  I  pray  thee  from  the 
bottom  of  my  heart,  through  Jesus  Christ,  thy  most 
beloved  Son,  our  Lord  and  Saviour.  Father,  in  thee 
do  I  put  my  trust;  let  me  never  be  ashamed."  It 
would  seem  as  if  his  enemies  were  pressing  him  for 


158  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

a  recantation  as  he  penned  these  words.  Tyranny, 
torture,  and  shameful  treatment  forced  him  at  length 
to  yield,  and  he  made  the  retraction  for  which  his 
enemies  had  so  persistently  clamored.1     After   his 

1  Some  have  doubted  whether  Hubmeier  made  a  recantation  at 
Zurich.  In  his  excellent  article  on  Hubmeier  in  the  Baptist  Re- 
view for  April,  1881,  Rev.  W.  W.  Everts,  jr.,  gives  (pp.  214-15) 
Hubmeier's  recantation  as  follows  :  "  I  Balthazar  Hubmeyer,  of 
Friedberg,  openly  confess,  under  this  my  own  hand,  that  I  have 
understood  the  Scriptures  which  treat  of  baptism  to  declare  no- 
thing but  this  :  First  preaching,  then  believing,  and  finally  bap- 
tizing. I  had  been  firmly  committed  to  these  ideas,  but  Master 
Ulrich  Zwingli  has  been  instructing  me  that  the  covenant  entered 
into  by  God  with  Abraham  and  his  seed  took  the  place  of  the 
baptism  of  to-day.  This  I  have  not  tried  to  settle.  It  has  been 
alleged  by  others  that  charity  ought  to  be  the  judge  and  standard 
of  Scripture.  This  I  have  so  recalled  to  mind  as  to  result  in  the 
confession  that  I  was  in  error.  I  was  not  the  first  one  baptized, 
neither  have  I  baptized  any  one  in  Zurich.  I  have  not  objected 
to  a  Christian  government,  nor  have  I  favored  communism.  I 
do  not  claim  to  be  sinless  ;  I  ask  for  pity  on  my  sickness,  adver- 
sity, exile,  and  poverty."  In  this,  Mr.  Everts  follows  a 
Latin  form  of  the  recantations  found,  I  believe  in  Ottius's 
Annates  Anabaptistici.  But  the  original,  of  greater  length,  and 
stronger  in  its  expression  of  recantation,  is  in  the  German  lan- 
guage. It  is  in  the  Zurich  archives,  and  I  am  assured  by  Egli, 
the  scholarly  author  of  the  Zuricher  Wiedertaufer,  that  Dr. 
Strickler,  who  has  charge  of  the  Zurich  archives,  is  positive  that 
it  is  in  Hubmeier's  handwriting.  A  copy  of  this  original  I  have 
before  me,  and  also  the  record  of  the  Zurich  Acts  concerning  Hub- 
meier's recantation,  which  says  that  Hubmeier  offered  to  renounce 


FATE  OF  SOME  OF  THE  LEADERS.       159 

return  from  Gossau  he  remained  awhile  in  conceal- 
ment at  Zurich,  and  then,  his  request  having  been 
granted  that  he  should  not  be  delivered  into  the 
hands  of  the  Austrians,  he  was  suffered  secretly  to 
leave  the  Canton.1  He  made  his  way  to  Constance,  and 
thence,  probably  in  July,  1526,  to  Nicholsburg  in 
Moravia  .2 

his  errors  concerning  Anabaptism  and  to  make  the  recantation 
whenever  desired.      See  Actensammlung,  437.  Nr.  911. 

1  Application  for  Hubmeier's  surrender  was  made  by  Austria, 
but  the  Council  of  Zurich  declined  to  accede  to  it  as  contrary  to 
the  custom.     Fiisslin,  Beytrdge,  iv.  s.  253. 

2  At  Nicholsburg,  Hubmeier  established  an  Anabaptist  Church, 
which  became  the  centre  of  the  Anabaptist  movement  in  Moravia. 
Here  most  of  Hubmeier's  works  were  written  and  published. 
But  his  enemies  did  not  lose  sight  of  him.  Near  the  close  of  1527 
he  was  arrested  and  delivered  into  the  hands  of  Austria.  For  a 
while  he  was  imprisoned  in  the  Castle  Gritzenstein,  Vienna. 
During  his  imprisonment  he  was  visited  by  Dr.  Faber,  and  Dr. 
Marx  Beck,  who  endeavoured  to  win  him  back  to  the  Church  of 
Rome.  But  Hubmeier  was  immovable,  and  he  was  condemned 
to  be  burnt  at  the  stake,  March  10,  1528.  At  the  place  of  burn- 
ing he  offered  the  following  prayer  :  "  0  my  gracious  God,  grant 
me  patience  in  my  suffering.  0  My  Father,  I  thank  thee,  that  to- 
day thou  wilt  lift  me  from  this  valley  of  sorrows.  With  joy  I  die 
that  I  may  come  to  thee,  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  world.  My  God,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit." 
Three  days  after,  his  faithful  wife,  who  accompanied  him  to 
Vienna,  was  brought  to  the  bridge  over  the  Danube,  and  thrown 
into  the  river  with  t,  heavy  stone  attached  to  her  neck.     Calvary 


160  THE  ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

Meanwhile  Grebel,  Mantz,  and  Blaurock,who  were 
still  in  prison,  resolutely  refused  to  renounce  Ana- 
baptism.  Early  in  March,  1526,  they  had  an  exa- 
mination, but  they  stood  firm,  saying  they  chose  to 
die  rather  than  to  deny  the  faith  they  professed. 
Mantz  declared  that  the  Scriptures  alone  had  made 

Mitthcilungen  aus  demAntiquariate,  i,  s.  114-118,  in  his  list  of  Hub- 
meier's  writings,  gives  twenty  four  titles.  How  they  were  re- 
garded by  the  Romish  Church  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that 
in  the  acts  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  the  works  of  Hubmeier  were 
condemned  with  those  of  Luther,  Calvin,  Zwingli,  and  Schwenk- 
feld.  His  name  also,  in  four  different  forms — Balthasar  Paci- 
montanus,  Balthasar  Hubmeier,  Balthasar  Hilcemerus  and  Balt- 
harus  Isubmarus — is  found  in  the  index  of  Prohibited  Books, 
which  was  published  by  Bernard  of  Sandoval,  Archbishop  of 
Toledo.  To  his  great  talents  and  attainments,  as  well  as  to  the 
purity  of  his  character,  early  and  later  writers  bear  witness.  Ha- 
gen,  Deutchsland's  literarische  und  religiose  Verhdltnisse  in  Reforma- 
tionszeitalter,  iii.,  s.  233,  says  no  unworthy  motive  was  discoverable 
in  any  of  his  acts.  The  original  sources  of  information  for  the 
life  of  Hubmeier  are  his  own  writings,  Zwingli's  Werke,  Bul- 
linger's  Reformationsgeschichte,  and  Faber's  Ursach.  Of  recent 
works,  mention  should  be  made  especially  of  Schreiber's  Taschen- 
buch  fur  Geschichte  und  Alterthum  in  Suddeutschland,  Freiburg, 
1839,  1840  (but  unfinished) ;  Fr.  X.  Hosek's,  Balthasar  Hubmeier 
a  pocatkowe  novoJcrestcnstva  na  Morave,  Berne,  1867.  [Balthasar 
Hubmeier  and  the  origin  of  the  Anabaptists  in  Moravia,  Brunn 
1867  ;  Cornelius',  Der  M'dnsterischen  Aufruhrs,  Leipzig,  1855,  1860; 
and  Egli's  Die  Ziiricher  Wiedertiiufcr  zur  Reformationszcit,  Zurich 
1878. 


FATE  OF  SOME  OF  THE  LEADERS.        161 

hiin  an  Anabaptist.  Infant  baptism,  said  Blaurock, 
is  an  invention  of  men,  and  what  men  invent  is  of 
the  devil.  '  As  the  latter  desired  to  have  a  discus- 
sion with  Zwingli  and  Leo  Jud,  his  request  was 
granted,  and  the  discussion  continued  three  hours, 
but  was  unsatisfactory  to  both  parties.  Eeferring  to 
his  preaching  at  Zollikon,  Blaurock  said  he  thought 
his  Heavenly  Father  had  sent  him  there.2  All  of  the 
prisoners,  though  we  know  not  on  what  ground,  (ex- 
cept in  case  of  Budolph,  Uli,  Margaret,  and  Elizabeth 
Hottinger,  who  recanted,)  seem  to  have  been  re- 
leased shortly  after  this  examination. 

The  following  were  condemned  to  imprisonment, 
March  7  :  Felix  Mantz,  George  Blaurock,  Conrad 
Grebel,  Uli  Hottinger  of  Zollikon,  Ernest  Von 
Glatz  of  Silesia,  Anthony  Boggenacher  of  Schwytz, 
John  Hottinger,  Budolph  Hottinger,  John  Ocken- 
fuss,  Karl   Brennwald,  Fridli  Abyberg  of  Schwytz, 

1  The  severe  language  of  the  Anabaptists  in  reference  to  infant 
baptism  was  no  severer  than  that  of  Lutherans  and  Zwinglians 
in  reference  to  the  mass,  and  other  ceremonies  of  the  Romish 
Church. 

2  The  misfortunes  of  the  Grebel  family  are  noteworthy.  The 
other  son  was  removed  from  his  position  at  the  Court  of  the 
Archduke  Ferdinand.  Agathe,  Prioress  of  the  Convent  of  Oeden- 
bach,  lost  her  position  when  the  Convent  was  closed.  Martha, 
the  beloved  wife  of  Vadian,  had  a  long  and  happy  life.  See  Hot- 
tinger Oesckichte  der  Eidgenosscn,  i.  s.  465,  note  100. 


162  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

John  Heingarter  of  St.  Gall,  Agtli  Ockenfuss,  Eli- 
zabeth Hottinger  of  Hirslanden,  Margaret  Hottinger 
of  Zollikon,  Winbrot  Vonwiler  of  St.  Gall,  Anna 
Mantz,  and  the  landlady,  at  the  Green  Shield. 

It  is  in  the  record  of  this  examination,  accordingly, 
early  in  March,  1526,  that  we  find  the  last  men- 
tion of  Grebel's  name  in  the  history  of  the  move- 
ment for  Church  reform  in  Switzerland.  He  died, 
probably  not  long  after,  we  know  not  when  nor  where, 
of  the  pest.  l  He  had  neither  the  great  talents  nor 
the  great  learning  of  Hubmeier.  Mantz  excelled 
him  in  his  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  tongue,  and  he 
lacked  the  fiery  eloquence  of  Blaurock.  But  he  pos- 
sessed qualities  which  are  essential  to  leadership,  and 
his  leadership  was  recognized  by  Zwingli  and  the 
Zurich  Council,  as  well  as  by  his  brethren.  Egli 2 
well  says  that  a  good  biography  of  Grebel  would  be 
a  valuable  contribution  to  the  literature  of  the  Ee- 
formation. 

At  the  beginning  of  1526,  Heini  Eein,  Jacob 
Schaufelberger  and  Jacob  Kalch,  who  had  been  re- 
leased from  the  prison  in  Griiningen,  made  their  way 
into  Appenzell,  in  order  to  preach.  With  other  Ana- 
baptists, who  belonged  outside  of  the  district,    they 

1  Actensammlung,  443,  Nr.  933. 

2  Die  Ziiricher  Wiedertaufer,  8.  92. 


FATE  OF  SOME  OF  THE  LEADERS.       163 

were  arrested  and  imprisoned.  As  they  would  not 
take  an  oath  to  leave  the  district,  it  was  directed 
that  they  should  be  kept  on  bread  and  water  until 
further  orders  from  the  Cantonal  authorities.1 

Mantz,  after  his  release,  went  to  SchafFhausen, 
but  not  being  allowed  to  remain  there,  as  it  appears, 
he  proceeded  to  Basel,  where  for  awhile  he  found 
a  refuge.  In  private  houses  in  Basel,  and  in  the 
fields  and  forests  around,  he  preached,  using  his  He- 
brew Bible,  as  he  interpreted  to  his  hearers  the  sa- 
cred word,  and  many  were  led  by  him  to  embrace 
Anabaptist  views.  But  it  was  not  long  before  he 
was  arrested,  and  forbidden  to  preach  further.  At 
the  same  time,  probably,  he  was  ordered  to  leave  the 
Canton.  Some  of  his  followers,  also,  were  arrested. 
They  had  done  nothing,  they  said,  that  is  contrary 
to  the  laws  of  God.  He  is  to  be  obeyed  rather  than 
men.  And  they  asked,  why  they  should  not  be 
permitted  to  establish  a  church  of  their  own.  At 
Therwyler,  a  village  in  the  neighborhood  of  Basel,  an 
Anabaptist  so  commended  himself  to  the  pastor  of 
the  village,  that  he  received  permission  to  preach. 
Many  from  Basel  and  the  country  around  came  to 
hear  him ;  and  his  words,  clear  and  penetrating,  and 

1  Letter  from  Appenzell  of  January  11,  1526,  in  the  archives  of 
the  Cathedral  in  Zurich. 


164  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

spoken  with  earnestness  and  evident  sincerity,  made 
a  profound  impression  upon  his  hearers.  But  his 
lips  were  soon  sealed.  Of  those  who  were  arrested 
with  Mantz,  some  retracted  and  were  released  from 
imprisonment ;  the  rest  were  banished.1 

Toward  the  end  of  January  1526,  the  bailiff  of  the 
Griiningen  district  asked  the  Zurich  Council  that  he 
might  be  allowed  to  adopt  yet  severer  measures 
against  the  Anabaptists  within  his  jurisdiction.  "  One 
must  use  a  firm  hand,"  he  said.  "  With  such  persons 
lenity  is  of  no  account."  Hitherto  the  friends  of  the 
imprisoned  Anabaptists  could  visit  their  suffering 
brethren.  It  was  now  decreed  that  such  visits  must 
be  discontinued,  that  the  prisoners  should  be  kept  on 
bread  and  water,  and  that  even  in  case  of  sickness 
there  should  be  no  mitigation  of  the  punishment,  but 
the  sufferers  should  be  kept  in  the  tower,  there  to 
die  2  unless  they  retracted  their  errors.  March  7, 
it  was  decreed  that  whoever  should  administer  re- 
baptism   should   be  arrested,  and  if  condemned,  he 

i  Herzog,  Das  Leben  J.  Oekolampads.  ii,  s.  76,  77. 

2  In  the  order  as  originally  written  the  words  "  and  rot  "  fol- 
lowed the  words  "to  die,"  but  a  pen  was  drawn  through  them. 
See  Egli,  Die  Ziiricher  Wiedertaufer,  s.  55,  and  Hottinger,  Gesch.  d, 
Mdgenossen,  2Abth.  s.  41,  42.  Zwingli,  in  announcing  this  deci- 
sion to  Vadian  (March  7,  1526),  says  "  pane  et  aqua  delicientur* 
donee  aut  spiritum  reddant,  aut  manus." 


FATE  OF  SOME  OF  THE  LEADERS.       165 

should  be  drowned  without  mercy.  '  "  If  any  one 
asks  with  what  kind  of  justice  this  was  done,"  says 
Fusslin,2  "  the  Papists  would  have  an  answer.  They 
would  say,  according  to  papal  law  heretics  must  die. 
There  is  no  need  to  inquire  further.  The  maxim  is 
applicable  here.  What  the  Papacy  condemns,  is 
condemned.  But  those  who  hold  to  evangelical 
faith  renounce  the  pope  and  papal  authority,  and 
the  question  now  arises,  with  what  propriety  do 
they  compel  people  to  renounce  their  views  or  reli- 
gion, and  in  case  of  their  refusal  inflict  upon   them 

'  Fusslin,  Beytrdge,  i.,  s.  270,  271.  Egli,  Actensammlung ,  545, 
Nr.  973.  The  words,  "  Qui  mersus  fuerit,  mergatur  "  are  evidently 
wrongly  attributed  to  Zwingli  in  some  references  to  the  adoption 
of  this  edict.  They  were  probably  taken  from  a  sentence  in  his 
Elenchus  contra  Catabaptistas  (Opera  iii,  s.  364  ) :  Decrevit  clarissi- 
mus  Senatus  post  earn  collationem,  quae  nimirum  dicima  fuit  post 
alias  sive  publicas  sive  privatas,  aquis  mergere,  qui  merserit  bap- 
tism eum  qui  prius  emerserat."  Hubmeier  wrote  to  Zwingli  bit- 
terly denouncing  this  edict.  In  his  defence  of  himself,  Zwingli 
claimed  that  he  had  often  begged  the  magistrates  to  show  less 
severity  to  the  Anabaptists.  Fusslin  says  the  Heretic  Tower  was 
nothing  less  than  a  dark  tower  where  the  prisoners,  as  Hubmeier 
says,  saw  neither  sun  nor  moon  ;  but  the  rooms  of  the  tower,  on 
account  of  the  air  and  view,  were  as  pleasant  as  any  other  place 
in  the  city,  ("sondern  die  Gemacher  des  Thurms  waren  der  Luft 
und  Aussicht  halber  so  angenehm  als  irgend  ein  Ort  in  der  Stadt.")! 
See  Starck,  Gcschichte  der  Taufe,  s.  184. 
2  Fiisslin,  Beytriige,  i,  s.  274-277- 


166  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

capital  punishment  ?"  It  was  otherwise  in  Germany. 
The  Landgrave,  Philip  of  Hesse,  and  the  Elector  of 
Saxony  would  not  consent  to  any  such  violent  pro- 
ceedings. The  fault  in  Switzerland,  Fiisslin  says, 
was  not  the  fault  of  the  Reformers,  as  such  matters 
were  left  to  the  civil  magistrates.  "  Did  these,"  he 
adds,  "  stretch  their  authority  too  far,  and  did  one 
or  another  of  the  Eeformers  allow  himself  by  zeal  to 
be  so  far  carried  away  that  he  was  negligent  in  this 
matter,  or  strengthened  the  magistrates  in  their  pro- 
ceedings, we  do  not  boast  of  the  same,  nor  of  them. 
If  the  Anabaptist  principles  had  been  separated  from 
whatever  was  of  a  seditious  nature,  and  this  last 
alone  had  been  punished,  none  would  have  found 
occasion  for  fault."  But  nothing  is  plainer  than  that 
the  principles  of  the  Swiss  Anabaptist,  contained  no- 
thing of  a  seditious  nature.  Grebel  and  his  asso- 
ciates declined  to  follow  Munzer.  The  charge  was 
made  against  Mantz  at  Schaffhausen  that  he  had 
said  there  should  be  no  magistracy,  l  but  he  denied 
this  at  his  examination,  and  said  that  his  position 
was  this,  that  no  Christian  could  be  a  magistrate, 
and  that  no  one  should  punish  with  the  sword.2  Gre- 
bel  at   his   examination  in  Zurich,    said,    "he   had 

1  Fiisslin,  Beytrage,  i,  s.  237  and  242. 

2  Fiisslin,  Beytrilge,  i.  s.  254. 


FATE  OF  SOME  OF  THE  LEADERS.       167 

never  taught  that  obedience  should  be  refused  to  the 
magistrates.  l 

But  notwithstanding  the  severity  of  these  new 
measures  the  Anabaptists  continued  to  hold  their 
meetings,  now  in  the  fields,  now  in  the  forests,  as  op- 
portunity offered.  Deprived  of  their  leaders,  they  had 
the  services  of  brethren  who  could  best  supply  the 
places  of  those  who  had  hitherto  been  their  instruc- 
tors in  the  word.  But  these  new  leaders  soon  fol- 
lowed Grebel,  Mantz,  and  Blaurock  to  prison.  One 
Sunday  in  May,  1526,  at  a  meeting  in  a  forest  be- 
tween Bubikon  and  Wetzikon,  two  of  these  brethren, 
Jacob  Falk  and  Henry  Rieman,  were  arrested  by  the 
bailiff  of  the  Griiningen  district.  They  confessed  that 
they  had  been  baptized,  and  that,  although  they  knew 
the  penalty  was  death,  they  had  baptized  others,  and 
would  do  so  again.  At  the  trial  that  followed  it  was 
expected  that  the  judges  would  condemn  Falk  and 
Rieman  to  death  by  drowning ;  but  an  old  law  was 
pleaded  in  their  behalf,  and  until  the  hearing  of  this 
could  be  determined,  they  were  placed  in  the  bailiff's 
custody.2 

November  19,  1526,  the  Council  at  Zurich  con- 
firmed the  edict  of  March  7,  that  Anabaptism  should 

1  Fusslin,  Bcytrage,  i,  s.  249. 

2  Egli,  Die  ZiiricherWiedertaufer,  8.  58. 


168  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

be  punished  by  drowning.1  The  bailiff  of  the  Grrun- 
ingen  district  thought  it  best  not  to  mention  this  fact, 
lest  the  Anabaptists  should  be  alarmed  and  he  be  una- 
ble to  make  some  arrests  he  had  planned.  Mantz a 
and  Blaurock  were  seized  by  him  on  December  3,  in 
a  forest,  and  on  December  13  he  sent  them  with  two 
other  Anabaptist  prisoners  to  Zurich.  Mantz  re- 
ceived his  sentence,  January  5,  1527.  Since  he  had 
embraced  Anabaptism,  he  was  bold,  and  had  become 
one  of  the  leaders  in  the  Anabaptist  movement ; 
since  he  could  not  be  induced  to  retract  his  errors, 
but  in  spite  of  the  edict  and  of  his  oath  clung  to 
these  errors,  separating  himself  from  the  Christian 
Church,  and  laboring  to  organize  a  sect ;  since,  fur- 
ther, he  rejected  the  magistracy,  opposed  the  death 
penalty,  to  the  destruction  of  the  common  Christian 
peace, — he  should  be  delivered  to  the  executioner, 
who  should  bind  his  hands,  place  him  in  a  boat  and 
throw  him  bound  into  the  water,  there  to  die.3 

In  an  early  record  *  we  find  the  following  exhorta- 

1  Fiisslin,  Beytrage,  i,  s.  271.  Egli,  Actensammlung  514,  Nr.  107. 

3  Hottinger,  Geschichte  d.  JEidgenossen  s.  243,  note  156,  says,  he 
was  in  St.  Gall  after  leaving  Basel,  was  imprisoned  there,  but  was 
released  Oct.  12,  1526. 

3  Fusslin,  Beytrage,  iv,  s.  259-265.  Egli,  Actensammlung,  529, 30, 
Nr.  1109. 

*  The  Bloody  Theatre,  or  Martyr's  Mirror  of  the  Baptist  Churches, 
Hanserd  Knollys  Society's  Publications,  vol.  i,  s.  12-14. 


FATE  OF  SOME  OF  THE  LEADERS.  169 

tion  which   Mantz  left   for  the  comfort  and    admoni- 
tion of  his  brethren  : 

"  My  heart  rejoiceth  in  God,  who  giveth  me  much 
understanding,  and  guideth  me  that  I  may  escape 
eternal  and  endless  death.  Therefore  I  praise  thee, 
0  Christ,  Lord  of  heaven,  that  thou  succorest  me  in 
my  affliction  and  sorrow,  which  the  Saviour  God  hath 
sent  me  for  an  example  and  a  light,  who  hath  called 
me  before  my  end  is  come,  to  his  heavenly  Kingdom, 
that  I  might  have  eternal  joy  with  him,  and  love 
him  in  all  his  judgments,  which  shall  endure  both 
here  and  hereafter  in  eternity,  without  which  no- 
thing avails  or  subsists.  Therefore  are  there  so 
many,  who  not  having  this  are  deceived  with  a  vain 
opinion.  But,  alas !  now-a-days,  we  find  men  who 
boast  themselves  of  the  gospel,  speak  much  of  it, 
teach  and  publish  it,  to  be  full  of  hatred  and  envy ; 
who  have  in  them  no  divine  love,  whose  deceit  is 
known  of  all  the  world,  even  as  we  have  been  told, 
that  in  these  last  days,  they  that  come  to  us  in  sheep's 
clothing  are  ravening  wolves,  who  hate  the  godly  in 
earth,  and  hinder  the  way  to  life  and  to  the  true 
sheep-fold.  Thus  do  the  false  prophets  and  hypo- 
crites of  this  world  ;  with  the  mouth  they  curse,  and 
with  the  same  mouth  likewise  pray,  whose  life  is  dis  - 
orderly ;  these  call  upon  the  magistrates  to  put  us  to 

death,  and  herewith  they  destroy  the  being  of  Christ. 
8 


170  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

But  I  will  praise  the  Lord  Christ,  who  hath  all  pa- 
tience with  us.  He  instructeth  us  with  his  divine 
grace ;  he  showeth,  after  the  nature  of  God,  his 
Heavenly  Father's  love  to  all  men,  which  none  of 
the  false  prophets  can  do. 

" Herein  must  we  observe  the  difference;  the 
sheep  of  Christ  seek  to  honor  God.  This  they  choose. 
They  suffer  not  themselves  to  be  hindered  by  gain  or 
temporal  good,  for  they  are  in  the  keeping  of  Christ. 
The  Lord  Christ  forces  no  man  into  his  glory  ;  but 
the  willing  and  ready  alone  enter,  who  come  thereto 
by  true  faith  and  baptism.  When  a  man  bringeth 
forth  the  true  fruits  of  repentance,  for  him  is  pur- 
chased and  procured,  by  Christ,  through  grace,  the 
heaven  of  everlasting  joy,  by  the  shedding  of  his  in- 
nocent blood,  which  he  so  willingly  poured  out. 
Thereby  he  showeth  us  his  love,  and  endueth  us 
with  the  might  of  his  Spirit ;  and  he  who  receiveth 
and  exerciseth  this,  groweth  and  becometh  perfect  in 
God. 

"  Love  to  God,  through  Christ,  will  alone  endure 
and  profit,  no  boasting,  railing,  or  threatening.  There 
is  nothing  but  love  with  which  God  is  pleased.  He 
who  can  show  no  love  shall  find  no  place  with  God. 
The  true  love  of  Christ  shall  oast  off  the  enemy.  It 
is  set  before  him  who  will  be  an  heir  with  Christ, 
that  he  must  be  merciful,  even  as  his  Heavenly  Father 


FATE  OF  BOME  OF  THE  LEADERS.  171 

is  merciful.  Christ  never  accused  any  one,  as  the 
false  teachers  now  do  ;  whence  it  appears  that  they 
have  not  the  love  of  Christ,  nor  understand  his 
word.  Yet  they  will  be  shepherds  and  teachers. 
But  at  last  they  must  tremble,  when  they  find  that 
eternal  pain  will  be  their  reward,  if  they  do  not 
amend. 

"  Christ  never  hated  any,  and  his  true  servants 
likewise  hate  no  one,  continuing  thus  to  follow  Christ 
in  the  right  way,  as  he  has  gone  before  them.  This 
light  of  life  they  have  before  them,  and  rejoice  to 
walk  therein %t  but  those  who  are  full  of  hatred  and 
envy,  who  thus  wickedly  betray,  accuse,  smite,  and 
wrangle,  cannot  be  Christians.  These  are  they  who 
as  thieves  and  murderers  run  before  Christ,  and 
under  false  show  steal  innocent  blood.  Thereby  may 
men  know  them,  they  take  no  part  with  Christ,  for 
through  malice,  as  the  children  of  Belial,  they  annul 
the  command  of  Jesus  Christ ;  as  Cain  slew  his  bro- 
ther Abel  when  God  accepted  his  offering. 

"  Herewith  I  will  finish  my  discourse,  and  request 
all  the  pious  to  meditate  on  the  fall  of  Adam,  who 
followed  the  serpent's  counsel,  and  being  disobedient 
to  God,  the  punishment  of  death  followed  him.  So 
shall  it  also  befall  those  who  receive  not  Christ,  but 
oppose  him ;  who  love  this  world  and  have  no  love  to 
God.     With  this  I  conclude.     I  will   abide  close   to 


172  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

Christ  and  confide  in  him  ;  he  knoweth  all  my  dis- 
tresses, and  can  help  me  out  of  them.     Amen." 

The  sentence  was  forthwith  carried  into  execution. 
"  As  he  came  down  from  the  Wellenberg  to  the  fish- 
market,"  says  Bullinger,  *  "  and  was  led  through  the 
shambles  to  the  boat,  he  praised  God  that  he  was 
about  to  die  for  his  truth  ;  for  Anabaptism  was 
right,  and  founded  upon  the  word  of  God,  and  Christ 
had  foretold  that  his  followers  would  suffer  for  the 
truth's  sake.  And  the  like  discourse  he  urged  much, 
discussing  with  the  preacher  who  attended  him. 
On  the  way,  his  mother  and  brother  came  to  him, 
and  exhorted  him  to  be  steadfast ;  and  he  persevered 
in  his  folly,  even  to  the  end.  When  he  was  bound 
upon  the  hurdle  and  was  about  to  be  thrown  into 
the  stream  by  the  executioner,  he  sang  with  a  loud 
voice  :  '  In  manus  tuas,  Domine,  commendo  spiritum 
meum.'  '  Into  thine  hands,  0  Lord,  I  commend  my 
spirit ;'  and  herewith  was  drawn  into  the  water  by 
the  executioner,  and  drowned." 

Capito,  writing  to  Zwingli  from  Strasburg,  Janu- 
ary 22, 1577,  said  :  "  It  is  reported  here,  that  your 
Felix  Mantz  has  suffered  punishment,  and  died 
gloriously  ;  on  which  account  the  cause  of  truth  and 
piety,   which   you   sustain,  is   greatly   depressed."2 

1  Eeformationsgeschichte,  i.  s.  382. 

2  Zwingli,  Opera,  viii.  a.  16.    Hie  est  rumor,  Feliceum  Mansium 


FATE  OF  SOME  OF  THE  LEADERS.       173 

On  the  27th;  Capito  renewed  his  request  :  "  I  greatly 
desire  to  know,"  he  said,  "  how  it  happened  in  the 
case  of  the  unhappy  Felix  Mantz,  whether  he  suffer- 
ed punishment  on  account  of  violated  public  faith,  or 
on  account  of  the  obstinacy  of  his  views  concerning 
religion  ;  and  with  what  firmness  he  came  to  the  end 
of  life."  1  Zwingli's  reply,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  has 
not  been  preserved.  But  as  if  to  answer  Capito's  in- 
quiry in  reference  to  Mantz's  attitude  in  the  face  of 
death,  the  learned  editors  of  Zwingli's  works,  Schu- 
ler  and  Schulthess,  have  added  in  a  note,  "  Animi 
magnitudine  mortem  obiit."  That  Zwingli  complied 
with  Capito's  request,  however,  is  certain  ;  for  April 
8, 1527,  in  a  letter  to  Zwingli,  Capito  refers  to  Zwin- 
gli's narrative  of  the  affair.  It  is  seen,  he  says,  how 
the  hand  of  God  was  manifested  throughout,  and  how 
the  Council  was  compelled  to  usurp  the  part  of  a  judge.2 

tuum  plexum  supplicio,  et  mortem  obiise  magnifice,  quo  nomine 
pietatis  ac  veritatis  caussa,  cujus  partes  tu  agis,  sit  magnopere  de- 
gravata." 

1  Zwingli,  Opera  viii,  30.  "Magnopere  scire  cupio,  quidnam  cum 
infelice  Felice  Manzio  accident,  an  obviolatam  fidem  publicam, 
an  propter  pervicaciarn  sentiendi  contra  religionem  plexus  sit,  et 
qua  constantia  vitam  finierit. 

a  Zwingli,  Opera  viii,  44.  "  Historia  Mansii  descripta  est  per 
Te  deligenter  et  vere,  quam  in  istum  geri  ac  fieri  Domino  visum 
est,  et  nos  perspicimus  satis,  quam  coacte  Senatus  judicis  partem 
tandem  usurpaverit." 


174  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

The  death  of  Mantz,  a  man  of  deep  piety,  and 
scholarly  attainments,  was  a  heavy  blow  to  the  Ana- 
baptist cause  in  Switzerland.  Messengers  carried 
the  sad  tidings  from  village  to  village,  from  hamlet 
to  hamlet,  among  the  most  secluded  mountain  valleys. 
Everywhere  the  brethren  were  cast  down.  Since 
Grebel's  death  and  Hubmeier's  banishment,  they  had 
naturally  looked  to  Felix  Mantz  as  their  future 
leader.  And  now,  he  too  was  taken  from  them.  But 
though  cast  down  they  were  not  destroyed.  Mantz's 
dying  testimony,  and  the  heroic  manner  in  which  he 
accepted  martyrdom,  impressed  deeply  all  hearts,  and 
awakened  the  desire  to  imitate  his  noble  example.1 
Blaurock,  Mantz's  fellow  prisoner,  was  also 
sentenced  to  death  by  drowning,  but  inasmuch  as  he 
was  not  a  citizen  of  the  Canton,  a  milder  punishment 

1  Auss  Bundt,  das  ist  etliche  schone  Christenliche  IAeder,  wie 
die  in  der  Gefdngnuss  zu  Passau  in  dem  Schloss  von  den  Schweizer- 
Briidem  und  andem  rechtgldubigen  Christen  hin  und  her  gedicht- 

et  worden. 

"  Die  Oberkeit  sie  ruffen  an 

Dass  sie  uns  solle  todten 
Dann  Christ  hat  sie  verlan." 

Did  they  sing,  using  these  words  of  one  of  Mantz's  hymns  ? 
they  could  add  with  their  martyr  leader, 

Christum  den  will  ich  preisin, 

Der  alle  gdult  erzeigt 
Thut  uns  gar  freundlich  weisen 

Mit  seiner  gnad  geneigt." 


FATE  OF  SOME  OF  THE  LEADERS.       I/O 

was  deemed  sufficient  in  his  case,  and  on  the  same 
day  on  which  Mantz  was  executed,  according  to  the 
decree  of  the  Council,1  Blaurock's  hands  were  bound, 
his  body  was  stripped  to  the  waist,  and  as  he  passed 
alonp*  the  street  from  the  Fishmarket  to  the  Nieder- 
dorf  Gate  he  was  beaten  with  rods  until  the  blood 
flowed  from  the  wounds  thus  made.  Blaurock  en- 
dured his  sufferings  not  less  heroically  than  Mantz. 
At  the  gate  an  oath  that  he  would  not  return  was 
demanded  of  him  by  the  officers  who  had  con- 
ducted him  thither ;  but  he  refused,  saying  that  to 
take  an  oath  is  forbidden  by  God.  On  this  account, 
he  was  taken  back  to  the  Wellenberg  to  await  the 
further  decision  of  the  Council.  Blaurock  soon  con- 
cluded to  take  the  oath, 2  it  is  said  ;  but  as  he  left 
Zurich  he  shook  the  dust  from  his  blue  coat  and  his 
shoes  as  a  testimony  against  his  persecuting  adver- 
saries.3 

About  this  time  Simon  Stumpf,  formerly  pastor  at 

1  Egli,  Actensammlung,  550,  N.  1110. 

2  Fiisslin  in  the  Preface  to  vol.  iv,  of  Lis  Beytrtige,  s.  56,  says 
that  Zwingli  took  occasion  from  this  to  reproach  the  Anabaptists 
by  asking  why  they  suffered  Blaurock  to  remain  in  their  fellow- 
ship since  he  had  broken  one  of  the  most  prominent  rules.  "  With- 
out doubt,"  adds  Fiisslin,  "  he  did  not  consider  that  every  sect 
willingly  pardons  the  wrong  doing  of  its  members  when  they  are 
not  voluntary  but  compulsory." 

3  Bullinger,  Eeformationsgeschichte,  i.  s.  382. 


176  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

Hongg,  but  against  whom  December  25,  1523,  the 
Zurich  Council  issued  a  decree  of  banishment  on 
account  of  his  radical  views,  and  who  meanwhile  had 
been  in  Germany,  returned  and  resumed  his  labors 
among  the  brethren.  This  fact  was  soon  made  known 
to  the  Council,  and  an  order  was  issued  April  25, 1527, 
requiring  Stumpf  to  dispose  of  his  possessions  within 
fourteen  days  and  leave  the  Canton  on  penalty  of 
death.1 

1  Egli,   Die  Zuricher  Wiedertaufer,  s.  63,  Actensammlung,  540, 
Nr.  467. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

STATEMENT  OF  THE  GRUNINGEN  ANABAPTISTS  AND 
DEATH  OF  DENE. 

Meanwhile  the  Council  of  Zurich  was  making 
every  effort  to  secure  the  execution  of  Falk  and  Rie- 
man7  the  Anabaptist  preachers  whom  the  magistrates 
of  Griiningen  had  refused  to  deliver  into  the  Coun- 
cil's hands,  but  had  retained  in  their  own  prison.  A 
commission  was  appointed  to  consider  the  matter 
and  in  accordance  with  its  proposition,  the  Council, 
falling  back  upon  an  existing  agreement  between  the 
two  Cantons,  determined  to  appeal  to  Berne  as  an 
umpire,  in  case  Falk  and  Eieman  should  not  be  im- 
mediately executed  in  accordance  with  the  edict. 

In  vain  the  Griiningen  magistrates  endeavored  to, 
prevent  this  action.  It  was  the  purpose  of  the  Coun- 
cil, they  were  told,  to  destroy  the  Anabaptist  heresy 
root  and  branch.  But  it  was  soon  found  that  perse- 
cution increased  rather  than  diminished  the  member- 
ship of  the  Anabaptist  Churches.  The  Council  ac- 
cordingly decided  to  have  a  conference  at  Zurich  in 
September,  to  which  delegates  from  Berne,  Basel, 
Schaffhausen,  Chur,  Appenzell,  and  St.  Gall  were  in- 

8*  177 


178  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

vited.  A  correspondence,  also,  was  commenced  with 
Augsburg  and  Constance  in  reference  to  the  Ana- 
baptists.1 

But  though  they  had  been  deprived  of  their  leaders 
the  brethren  were  bold  in  defending  their  views. 
Here  is  a  document, 2  belonging  to  this  period,  which 
the  Anabaptists  of  the  Griiningen  district  laid  before 
the  civil  authorities,  and  in  which,  in  opposition  to 
the  accusations  of  the  magistrates,  they  justified  the 
baptism  of  believers  alone. 

"  At  his  baptism  by  John,  Christ  calls  baptism 
righteousness,  and  as  the  publicans  before  they  were 
baptized  by  John  must  show  repentance,  he  called  it 
a  counsel  of  God  ;  therefore,  infants  should  not  be 
baptized,  because  they  neither  need  repentance  nor 
know  aught  of  righteousness  or  the  counsel  of  God. 
Further,  Christ  says  after  his  resurrection,  '  He  that 
believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved ;  he  that  be- 
lieveth  not  shall  be  damned.'  Here,  again,  he  means 
the  baptism  of  believers,  not  of  children.  He  does 
not,  however,  at  the  same  time  include  children  in 
this  condemnation,  for  he  is  not  speaking  of  them, 
but  to  those  who  know  good  and  evil ;  and  as  for  the 
rest  he  says,  '  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  me,' 

i  Egli,  Actensammlung,  557,  Nr.  1247;  also  560,  Nr.  1262. 
2Fusslin,    Beytrage,  iii,  s.  319-329,  Egli,  Actensammlung,  547, 
Nr.  1201. 


GRUNINGEN  ANABAPTISTS  AND  DEATH  OF  DENK.  179 

etc.  If  now  Christ  calls  baptism  a  '  counsel  of  God ' 
and  '  righteousness,'  and  it  is  his,  therefore  God's, 
conlmand,  then  mark,  humble  believer,  how  the  false 
prophets  mislead  you,  and  the  wise  and  ingenious,  as 
they  say,  '  Baptism  is  nothing,  it  is  only  an  external 
form,  nothing  but  water,  and  signifies  nothing.' 

"  Peter  baptized  three  thousand  souls,  who  repent- 
ed and  gladly  received  his  word.  There  is  also  in 
this  passage  a  proof  against  infant  baptism  ;  and  we 
may  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  three  thousand 
would  have  had  their  children  baptized  (of  which  we 
read  nothing)  if  it  had  been  the  custom.  Likewise 
we  find  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  that  Philip  bap- 
tized the  Eunuch,  because  he  believed  with  all  his 
heart. 

"The  twelve  disciples  of  John,  who  were  baptized 
by  Paul  at  Ephesus  in  the  name  of  Christ,  had  before 
received  the  baptism  of  John  to  repentance.  This, 
therefore,  was  not  enough.  The  twelve  men  were 
not  sufficiently  instructed  in  the  Christian  faith.  So 
infant  baptism  is  not  enough,  but  is  a  false  devilish 
doctrine. 

"  Against  infant  baptism  is  the  testimony  of  Paul, 
that  we  by  baptism  are  buried  into  Christ's  death, 
and  with  him  should  walk  in  a  new  life.  Infants 
can  neither  yield  their  members  to  'unrighteousness,' 
nor  'walk  in  newness  of  life.' 


180  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

"  Believers  are  those  who  walk  in  the  will  of  the 
Spirit,  and  bring  forth  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit ;  they 
are  the  company  and  body  of  Christ,  the  Christian 
Church.     To  this,  therefore,  the  Anabaptists  belong. 

M  Zwingli,  the  false  prophet,  since  he  can  find  no 
proofs  in  the  New  Testament,  turns  back  to  the  Old, 
and  appeals  to  the  covenant  with  Abraham.  But 
this  covenant  was  made  by  God  with  the  Jews,  and 
not  with  the  Gentiles.  Why  then  do  the  preachers 
baptize  our  children,  whose  descent  is  from  the  Gen- 
tiles, not  from  the  Jews  ?  Besides,  the  girls  as  well 
as  the  little  boys  were  included  in  the  promise, 
although  they  were  not  circumcised  like  the  latter. 

"  According  to  the  words  of  Christ  and  Paul,  the 
law  has  an  end  with  Jesus,  and  the  gospel  begins. 
So  shall  we  also  be  found  in  the  new  life,  and  no 
longer  in  the  old  ;  and  seek  no  other  way,  no  other 
door,  than  Christ ;  otherwise  we  are  thieves  and  rob- 
bers. If,  however,  it  is  said,  infants  are  included  in 
the  promise,  it  is  the  promise  of  Christ  which  is 
meant,  that  says,  '  Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven.' He,  therefore,  who,  instead  of  being  satisfied 
with  this  promise,  turns  to  infant  baptism,  is  making 
another  door,  and  is  therefore  a  thief  and  a  robber. 

"  If  now  the  members  of  the  Zurich  Council  desig- 
nate the  baptism  of  Christ  as  Anabaptism,  the  com- 
mon people  will  be  convinced  that  the   reverse  is  the 


GRUNINGEN  ANABAPTISTS  AND  DEATH  OF  DENE.  181 

fact,  and  that  infant  baptism  is  really  Anabaptism. 
Now  we  desire  that  you  will  leave  us  alone  with  the 
truth ;  if,  however,  this  may  not  be,  we  are  ready 
for  the  sake  of  the  truth  to  suffer  through  the  grace 
and  power  of  God." 

In  August,  possibly  in  September,  Jacob  Gross,  of 
Waldshut,  was  imprisoned  at  Brtigg,  in  the  Canton 
of  Berne,  having  preached  Anabaptism  in  the  sur- 
rounding country  and  baptized  many.  He  was  of- 
fered his  liberty  if  he  would  take  an  oath  not  to  re- 
sume his  labors  in  the  Canton ;  if  he  refused,  he  was 
threatened  with  death  by  drowning.  Gross  at  length 
accepted  a  release  on  the  terms  proposed,  and  made 
his  way  into  the  Gruningen  district,  where,  by  night, 
in  a  barn,  probably  at  a  preaching  service,  he  was 
arrested,  about  the  middle  of  September,  as  it  would 
seem,  but  was  set  at  liberty  on  his  promise  to  leave 
the  district.1 

Throughout  the  year  1527,  Anabaptists  from 
Waldshut  made  the  country  between  that  place  and 
Zurich,  known  as  Unterland,  their  field  of  labor.  In 
Bulach,  Haslen,  and  vicinity  the  people  were  inclined 
to  accept  Anabaptist  views,  and  the  meetings  held  by 
the   brethren   were   largely  attended. 2      A  certain 

1  Egli,  Actensammlung,  563,  Nr.  1275,  also  564,  Nr.  1277,  1278. 

2  Egli,  Actensammlung,  569,  Nr.  1307. 


182  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

Hindermann  and  Elsi  Spillmann  of  Dallikon,  and 
Jacob  Frei  of  Watt,  on  account  of  their  attendance 
upon  these  secret  services  conducted  by  Anabaptists 
from  across  the  border,  were  imprisoned,  but  were 
released  with  a  warning  not  to  attend  such  meetings 
in  the  future,  but  to  go  to  church ;  and,  imposing  a 
fine  upon  them  if  they  should  neglect  this  warning, 
they  compelled  them  to  swear  to  bring  or  report 
Anabaptists  from  across  the  border  to  the  bailiffs. l 
December  15,- 1527,  the  Council  issued  a  decree  to 
the  bailiffs,  directing  them  to  seize  and  imprison  in 
the  Wellenberg  those  whowithdrew  from  the  churches 
and  attached  themselves  to  field  preachers,  and  not 
to  release  them  without  first  having  paid  a  fine  of 
five  pounds.2 

It  is  at  this  time  that  a  name  already  mentioned 
suddenly  reappears  in  the  history  of  the  Anabaptists 
of  Switzerland,  only,  however,  to  be  again  mentioned 
and  as  suddenly  to  disappear  forever.  John  Denk, 
who  was  at  St.  Gall  in  1525,  and  who  at  that  time 
was  suspected  of  being  in  secret  communication  with 
Anabaptists,  appeared  in  Augsburg  3  in  the  summer 
or  autumn  of  the  same  year,  where  he  openly  espous- 

1  Egli,  Actensammlung,  581,  Nr.  1335. 

2  Egli,  Actensammlung,  582,  Nr.  1338. 

3  Studien  u.  Kritiken,  1851,  erste  Heft.  s.  138.  (Johann  Denk  und 
sein  Buchlin  vo?n  Oesetz,  by  Heberle). 


GRUNINGEN  ANABAPTISTS  AND  DEATH  OF  DENK.  183 

ed  the  cause  of  the  Anabaptists,  and  aided  in  making 
Augsburg  the  centre  of  the  movement  in  Swabia. 
In  the  autumn  of  1526,  not  later  certainly  than 
November,  he  left  Augsburg l  and  made  his  way  to 
Strasburg,  where  with  Hetzer,  and  subsequently  at 
Worms,  he  was  engaged  in  a  translation  of  the 
prophetical  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  which  was 
published  in  Worms  in  the  first  half  of  the  following 
year  (the  preface  is  dated  April  3,  1527),  and  accord- 
ingly nearly  five  years  before  Luther's  translation 
appeared.  This  translation  was  received  with  so 
much  favor  that  within  four  years  twelve  editions 
at  least  were  printed.2 

In  July,  1527,  Denk  was  again  in  Augsburg ;  but 
at  the  close  of  the  month,  by  way  of  Ulm  and  Nurem- 
berg, where  he  found  that  persecution  awaited  him 
if  he  remained,  he  proceeded  to  Basel,  in  which  place 
he  had  once  lived  in  friendly  intercourse  with  Oeco- 
lampadius,  and  with  whom  he  hoped  now  to  find  an 
asylum.  August  3,  1527,  just  before  Denk's  arrival, 
Basel  had  forbidden  Anabaptists  to  remain  in  the 
city ;  3  but  Denk,  in  a  letter,  frankly  laid  his  views 
before  Oecolampadius,  and  asked  for'himself  what  he 
was  willing  to  accord  to  all  men,  religious  freedom. 

1  Studien  u.  Kritiken,  1851,  s.  140. 

*  Jahrbiicher  fiir  d.  Theologie,  s.  1856,  265. 

3  Herzog,  Das  LebenJ.  Ockolampada  ii.  s.  307. 


184  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

"  God  is  my  witness,"  he  wrote,"  that  I  am  favorable 
to  one  sect  only,  to  the  followship  of  the  saints  wher- 
ever found.  For  that  it  is  with  you  alone,  I  do  not 
believe.  .  .  .  Not  to  have  a  home  is  a  grief  to  me. 
Yet  it  grieves  me  yet  more  that  my  zeal  does  not 
bring  corresponding  fruit.  No  other  fruit,  however, 
do  I  seek,  than  that  very  many  with  one  heart  and 
mind  may  glorify  God,  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  whether  they  be  circumcised  or  baptized  or 
neither.  For  I  am  wholly  of  a  different  view  from 
those  who  bind  the  Kingdom  of  God  to  the  cere- 
monies and  elements  of  the  world,  although  I  do  not 
deny  that  I  myself  for  a  long  time  fell  into  a  like 
error.  If  you  believe  that  you  can  endure  these 
principles  in  any  way,  will  you  take  the  pains  to  ob- 
tain for  me  permission  to  remain  here." 

In  closing,  Denk  begs  his  old  friend  to  lose  sight 
of  the  days  of  their  alienation,  and  to  give  him 
again  a  place  in  his  heart.  In  what  esteem  he  held 
him,  he  would  learn  from  the  confidence  which  he 
had  manifested  in  this  letter,  and  which  he  was 
ready  to  manifest  even  in  a  greater  degree.  "  I  seek 
to  escape  from  exile/'  he  said ;  "  but  if  I  should  not 
succeed,  I  do  not  think  I  shall  repent  of  this  letter, 
unless,  which  God  forbid,  you  should  use  it  in  order 
to  glorify  yourself,  and  to  destroy  another."1 

1  Studien  u.  Kritiken,  1855,  s.  873,  874. 


GRUNINGEN  ANABAPTISTS  AND  DEATH  OF  DENK.  185 

Whether  the  permission  asked  for  by  Denk  was 
obtained,  we  do  not  know,  but  he  remained  in  Basel, 
and  saw  Oecolampadius  frequently.  Bullinger  says, 
*'  He  discussed  much  and  long  with  Oecolampadius, 
who  greatly  desired  his  conversion."  It  has  been 
claimed  that  Denk  was  converted,  or,  in  other  words, 
renounced  his  Anabaptist  errors.  Indeed,  a  tract 
which  he  wrote  in  Basel  in  explanation  of  his  views, 
and  which  was  published  after  his  death,  was  sent 
out  under  the  title,  Retraction  of  John  Denk.1 
Th  is  tract,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  has  not  been  pre- 
served ;  but  the  extracts  from  it  which  have  come 
down  to  us2  do  not  justify  either  the  report  or  the 
title.  Thus,  concerning  separation  and  sects,  Denk, 
in  Article  Six,  says  : 

"  Those  who  walk  in  the  footsteps  of  Christ,  I  re- 
joice in  and  love,  wherever  I  find  them.  But  with 
those  who  will  not  hear  me,  and  yet  will  not  keep 
silent,  I  cannot  have  much  fellowship,  for  I  do  not 
discover  in  such  the  mind  of  Christ,  but  a  perverted 
mind,  which  will  force  me  to  abandon  my  faith,  and 
compel  me  to  adopt  its  own,  whether  it  be  right  or 
not.  And  even  if  right,  zeal  may  be  very  commend- 
able, but  unwise.     For  it  should  be  known  that  in. 

1  It  is  thought  to  have  been  published  by  Oecolampadius.     See 
Heberle,  Studien  u.  Kritiken,  1855,  s.  876. 
a  Arnold,  Kirchen  u.  Ketzer  Historic,  i.  s.  1305 — 1307. 


186  THE   ANABAPTISTS    IN   SWITZERLAND. 

matters  of  faith  everything  should  be  free,  voluntary, 
and  without  compulsion.  Therefore,  I  separate  my- 
self from  some,  not  that  I  regard  myself  better  and 
more  righteous  than  they,  but  even  if  I  were  lacking 
in  many  things,  that  I  may  seek  freely  and  unhinder- 
ed the  costly  pearl,  and  having  found  it  may  hold  it 
at  peace  with  every  man  in  so  far  as  it  is  possible  for 
me.  From  all  others,  persecution  and  the  fear  of 
persecution  have  separated  me.  My  heart,  however, 
is  not  separated  from  them,  especially  from  any  one 
who  fears  God.  Yet  with  error  and  unrighteousness 
I  will  have  no  fellowship  (if  God  will)  in  so  far  as 
my  knowledge  extends.  "With  this  consciousness  I 
await  joyfully  and  unterrified  the  judgment  of  Jesus 
Christ,  however  much  on  account  of  weakness  I  may 
fear  before  men.  On  this  account  I  do  not  justify 
myself,  but  know,  and  indeed  acknowledge,  that  I 
am  a  man  who  has  erred,  and  may  still  err." 

In  Article  Seven,  concerning  ceremonies,  Denk  thus 
gives  expression  to  his  views  : 

"  In  themselves  ceremonies  are  not  useful,  and  he 
who  thinks  thereby  to  obtain  anything,  whether 
through  baptism  or  the  breaking  of  bread,  is  super- 
stitious. A  believer  is  free  in  outward  things,  yet 
according  to  his  ability  he  will  make  every  effort  that 
the  honor  of  God  may  not  be  diminished  by  him,  and 
that  the  love  of  his  neighbor   may  not  be   wickedly 


GBUNINGEN  ANABAPTISTS  AND  DEATH  OF  DENK.    187 

despised.  He  who  makes  ceremonies  burdensome  is 
not  much  of  a  gainer  thereby ;  for  should  one  loso 
all  ceremonies,  he  would  not  suffer  any  injury,  and 
indeed  it  is  better  to  want  them  than  to  misuse 
them." 

That  any  one  should  find  in  these  words  a  rejection 
of  Anabaptism  l  is  amazing.  They  are  rather  noble 
witnesses  to  the  lofty  Christian  spirit  of  the  man,  as 
all  must  confess.  And  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that 
Arnold, 2  having  presented  these  quotations  from 
Denk's  Explanation  adds :  "  These  are  Denk's 
own  words.  From  them  it  may  be  seen  whether  he 
can  be  regarded  as  godless  and  damnable,  and 
whether  his  followers  may  be  regarded  as  diabolical 
or  devilish." 

He  who  joyfully  and  unterrified  awaited  the  judg- 
ment of  Jesus  Christ  was  called  to  meet  his  judge 
sooner  than  he  had  anticipated  ;  for  in  a  short  time 
after  his  arrival  in  Basel  he  died,  like  Grebel,  of  the 
pest.  The  date  of  his  death  is  unknown ;  but 
December  2,  1527,  Zwingli  received  a  letter  from 
Berthold  Haller  in  Berne,  in  which  he  said  :  "  Denk, 
Apollo  of  Anabaptism,  whom  Oecolampadius  some- 
times visited,  died  at  Basel  of  the  pest."  3 

1  Bullinger,  Wiedertauffer  F.  s.  65.     ' 

2  Kirchen  u.  Ketzer  Historie,  i,  s.  1307. 
Zwingli,  Opera  viii.  s.  123. 


CHAPTER  X. 

SEVERER  MEASURES  ADOPTED,  AND  DEATH  OF  HET- 
ZER. 

The  Eeformation  was  not  established  in  Berne 
until  early  in  1528.  At  the  great  discussion  between 
the  Protestants  and  Romanists  in  that  city,  January 
5,  1526,  some  Anabaptists  were  present  who  were  not 
satisfied  with  a  reformation  which  should  go  no  far- 
ther than  Zwingli  had  marked  out,  and  who  com- 
plained of  a  lack  of  earnest  preaching  of  repentance 
on  the  part  of  evangelical  preachers.  They  were  not 
invited  to  the  discussion,  and  having  been  arrested 
they  were  imprisoned  in  a  cloister  until  after  the  dis- 
cussion closed,  when  a  special  meeting  was  held,  at 
which  the  Anabaptists  were  exhorted  to  renounce 
their  errors.  These  exhortations,  however,  were 
fruitless,  and  the  Anabaptists  were  banished  from 
the  city  and  Canton.1 

The  effects  of  the  edict  of  December  16,  1527, 
were  soon  visible,  especially  in  Unterland.  Here, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  Anabaptists  from  Waldshut  had 

xErbkam,  Oeschichte  d.  prot.  Sekten,B.54;3.  Bullinger,  Beforma- 
tionsgeschichte,  i.  s.  436. 

188 


SEVERER  MEASURES  ADOPTED.       189 

gown  seeds  which  were  at  length  bearing  fruit  in 
many  hearts.  In  no  other  part  of  Switzerland  were 
the  Anabaptists  now  so  numerous  as  in  this  region. 
A  picture  of  the  situation  we  have  in  an  account 
which  the  pastor  of  Biilach,  Huldreich  Kollenburtz, 
placed  on  record  in  reference  to  the  Anabaptists  in 
this  parish.1  "Some  Waldshut  Anabaptists,"  he  wrote, 
"  are  making  an  uproar  in  Biilach,  as  formerly  in 
Nerach  and  Stadel.  Many  of  their  followers  have 
not  been  to  church  for  more  than  six  months. 
When  I  preach,  they  also  have  a  preaching  service, 
insisting  that  they  alone  preach  the  true  gospel.  They 
also  refuse  to  come  to  the  Lord's  Table."  Another 
view  of  the  situation  is  given  in  the  court  records,  in 
which  we  have  the  testimony  of  the  Anabaptists  who 
were  arrested  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of 
the  recent  edict.  "  The  parties  of  the  State  Churches," 
it  was  said,  "  did  not  live  in  conformity  with  their 
teachings." 2  Some  were  drunkards,  some  were 
avaricious,  some  were  unchaste,  some  were  addicted 
to  gambling.  Indeed,  so  much  was  urged  against  the 
morals  of  the  clergy  that  it  was  found  necessary  to 
adopt  measures  to  bring   about   a   better   state   of 

1  Egli,  Die  Ziiricher  Wiedertaufer,  s.  71.     Actensammlung,  587, 
Nr.  1358. 

2  Egli,  Actensammlung,  589,  Nr.  1360. 


190  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

things ;    and  an   edict,  with  this  end   in   view,  was 
issued,  April  8,  1528.1 

May  14,  1528,  a  new  and  stronger  edict  against 
the  Anabaptists  was  issued  by  the  Basel  Council.  In 
it,  not  only  was  Anabaptism  denounced,  but  attend- 
ance upon  private  religious  services,  in  or  near  the 
city,  in  forests  or  in  the  fields,  was  forbidden ;  and 
all  were  commanded  to  be  content  with  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  sacred  word  in  the  State  Churches.  Adults 
who  allowed  themselves  to  be  rebaptized,  parents 
who  refused  to  have  their  children  baptized  until  they 
were  advanced  in  years,  and  all  who  attended  private 
religious  assemblies,  and  entertained  and  supported 
those  who  preached  at  these  assemblies,  were  threa- 
tened with  severe  punishment  in  life  and  possessions. 
This  ordinance  was  especially  intended  for  the  sup- 
pression of  the  Anabaptist  movement  in  the  country 
around  Basel,  to  which  the  influence  of  the  Anabap- 
tists seemed  at  that  time  to  be  restricted.  But  it 
failed,  and  soon  we  again  hear  of  Anabaptists  in  the 
city.  In  the  course  of  the  summer  some  men  and 
women  were  imprisoned  in  Basel,  and  they  sacrificed 
life  rather  than  surrender  their  faith.  Arrests  af- 
terward were  made  in  the  surrounding  country.2 

1  Egli,  Die   Zurichcr   Wiedertdufer  b.  72-75.     Actensammlung , 
597,  Nr.  1383. 

'l  Herzog,  Das  Lebcn  J.  Oekolampads,  ii.  s.  55,  86.  ' 


.SEVERER  MEASURES  ADOPTED.  191 

Meanwhile,  for  more  than  fifteen  months  the  Grun- 
ingen  Anabaptists  had  endured  the  sufferings  of  a 
cruel  imprisonment.  The  Council  of  Zurich  had  now 
determined  to  make  an  end  of  Anabaptism  in  that 
district  if  possible,  and  to  establish  firmly  the  State 
Church.  Accordingly  these  prisoners  were  brought 
forth— the  record  is  under  date  of  August  11, — 
in  the  expectation  evidently  that  they  would  retract, 
and  influence  their  brethren  to  abandon  their  Ana- 
baptist views.  But  they  had  received  no  new  light 
during  their  long  imprisonment,  and  they  all  stood 
firm  in  their  determination  not  to  yield.  "  Infant 
baptism,"  they  said,  "  is  an  abomination  in  the  sight 
of  God;  anabaptism  is  God's  command.  The 
preachers  falsify  the  word  of  God,  especially  in  refer- 
ence to  baptism.  They  are  now  the  false  prophets, 
against  whom  Christ  uttered  a  warning."  One  of 
the  prisoners  said,  he  should  fear  for  his  poor  soul  if 
he  denied  the  word  of  God.  Another  said,  he  did  not 
care  to  hear  his  pastor  preach,  because  he  persecuted 
the  Anabaptists.  A  third  did  not  care  to  hear  the  word 
of  God  in  the  church,  much  as  he  enjoyed  it  when 
he  read  it  elsewhere.1  At  the  same  examination,  it 
would  seem,  Jacob  Falk  said  he  did  not  go  to  church, 
because  the  Scriptures  tell  us  to "  beware  of  false 
prophets."  All  lamented  that  they  were  ever  in  fa- 
1  Egli,  Actensammlung,  636,  Nr.  1469. 


192  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

vor  of  infant  baptism.  One  of  these  prisoners  had 
lain  a  half  year  in  the  dungeon  sick,  and  was  swollen 
from  head  to  foot,  so  that  he  had  to  be  carried  to 
the  place  where  the  examination  was  held ;  yet  he  pre- 
ferred to  die  with  his  companions  in  the  dungeon 
rather  than  to  live  without  in  the  castle.  As  they 
confessed  that  they  had  exhorted  each  other  to  hold 
out,  sick  or  well,  they  were  placed  in  separate  prisons 
in  Zurich,  where  they  were  kept  for  fourteen  days  on 
bread  and  water.1  Falk  and  Eieman  were  again  exam- 
ined, the  question  of  jurisdiction  having  been  settled 
by  Berne  in  favor  of  Zurich.2  The  former  said  he  would 
continue  to  baptize,  strengthened  by  the  Son  of  God, 
who  had  redeemed  him  and  had  not  forsaken  him. 
September  5,  both  were  sentenced  to  death.  Falk  re- 
fused to  give  the  names  of  those  he  had  baptized.  He 
would  not  be  the  cause  of  persecution  and  death  to 
his  brethren,  no  one  had  strengthened  and  comforted 
him,  except  the  Son  of  God,  who  had  redeemed  him 
and  would  not  forsake  him.3  They  were  taken  to  a 
little  fishing  hut  in  the  middle  of  the  river  Limat,4 
says  Bullinger,  "  where  they  were  drawn  into  the 
water  and  drowned."  5 

1  Actensammlung,  641,  Nr.  1486. 

2  Egli,  Actensammlung,  637,  Nr.  1473. 

3  Egli,  Actensammlung,  632,  Nr.  1456. 

4  Egli,  Actensammlung,  640,  Nr.  1473. 

5  Reformationsgeschichte,  ii,  8.  14. 


SEVERER  MEASURES  ADOPTED.        193 

Of  the  others,  some  retracted,  and  were  released 
on  their  promise  to  recognize  infant  baptism,  and 
also  to  pay  the  cost  of  their  entire  imprisonment,  for 
which  they  gave  bail.  Those  who  refused  were 
given  farther  time  for  reflection,  and  were  kept 
meanwhile  on  bread  and  water  in  the  tower.1 

Much  as  had  been  accomplished  in  suppressing 
Anabaptism  in  the  Griiningen  district,  it  was  not 
yet  destroyed.  The  pastor  at  Hinwyl  informed 
the  Council  that  in  his  parish  there  were  those 
who  had  not  been  inside  of  the  church  for  two 
years.  The  magistrates  made  a  like  report.  Early 
in  December,  accordingly,  the  Council  issued  an 
additional  edict  instructing  the  magistrates  to  ex- 
ercise renewed  watchfulness  in  their  work  of  ex- 
tirpation, with  the  added  warning  that,  if  they 
proved  unfaithful,  they  themselves  would  be  pun- 
ished.2 So  thoroughly  did  they  attend  to  their 
duties,  in  consequence  of  this  admonition,  that  in 
the  following  year  the  official  correspondence  fur- 
nishes only  two  brief  letters  to  show  that  any 
Anabaptists  were  now  to  be  found  in  the  Griinin- 
gen district. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  among  those  who 
were   required   to   leave  Zurich   after   the    Discus- 

1  Egli,  Actensammlung,  642,  Nr  1467. 

2  Egli,  Actensammlung,  647-8,  Nr.  1521. 


194  THE  ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

sion  of  January  17,  1525,  was  Ludwig  Hetzer.  He 
went  first  to  Augsburg,  and  became  connected 
with  the  radical  party  in  that  city,  but  early  in 
September,  if  not  before,  he  was  compelled  to  leave 
the  place,  and  we  find  him  not  long  after  in  Basel, 
where  he  was  kindly  received  by  Oecolampadius, 
who  gave  him  literary  employment,  and  by  whom 
he  was  subsequently  commended  to  Zwingli,  at 
Zurich,  whither  he  went  to  carry  through  the  press 
a  work  of  Oecolampadius  on  the  Lord's  Supper, 
which  he  had  translated  into  the  German  language. 
That  at  this  time  Hetzer  was  not  in  full  sympathy 
with  the  Anabaptist  movement  is  evidenced  not 
only  from  the  fact  that  he  was  present  at  the  Dis- 
cussion in  Zurich,  November  9,  1525,  as  a  spectator 
only;  but  also  from  the  fact  that  in  the  preface 
to  his  translation  of  Oecolampadius'  work  he  ex- 
pressly denies  that  he  was  an  Anabaptist,  though 
he  admits  that  he  rejected  infant  baptism.  Ke- 
turning  to  Basel,  he  devoted  himself  to  a  transla- 
tion of  Malachi  into  the  German  from  the  Latin 
of  Oecolampadius.  This  translation  was  published 
at  Basel  in  the  following  summer,  the  preface  bear- 
ing date  of  July  15,  1526.1 

1  Der  Prophet  Malachi  mit  ausslegung  Joan  Ecolampadii,  durch 
jn  im  latein  beschriben,  mit  fey  ss  verdeutscht  durch  Ludwig  Hatzer. 
It  was  printed  by  Thomas  Wolff,  and  on  the  title-page  is  found 
Hetzer's  motto,  "0  God,  release  the  imprisoned." 


SEVERER  MEASURES  ADOPTED.        195 

Late  in  the  summer  Hetzer  appeared  in  Stras- 
burg,  where  he  fully  connected  himself  with  the 
Anabaptist  movement,  and  where,  as  in  Worms  later, 
he  devoted  himself  to  its  furtherance.  At  Stras- 
barg  he  commenced  a  translation  of  Isaiah.  Here, 
also,  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Denk,  who  came 
to  Strasburg  in  the  autumn,  probably  in  October 
or  November,  1526,  and  with  whom  Hetzer  became 
associated  in  the  translation  of  the  Old  Testament.1 
In  July,  1527,  Hetzer  visited  Nuremberg  and  Augs- 
burg with  Denk.  The  latter,  as  we  have  seen, 
toward  the  end  of  July  left  Augsburg  and  made 
his  way  to  Basel,  where  he  soon  died.  Hetzer 
seems  to  have  remained  in  and  around  Augsburg 
until  April,  1528,  when  he  was  again  banished. 
Now  that  so  many  doors  were  closed  against  him, 
whither  should  he  direct  his  footsteps  if  not  to  the 
home  of  his  youth  ?  And  so  he  went  to  Bischofs- 
zell,  a  small  village  not  far  from  St.  Gall  and  Con- 
stance. Here  he  is  supposed  to  have  devoted  him- 
self to  the  preparation  of  one  or  two  theological 
works,  and  it  is  thought  that  he  visited  Vadian  at 
St.  Gall.  In  the  summer  of  1528,  or  later,  we  find 
him   in  Constance,  where   there  was  a  small  circle 

1  Of  this  translation  Luther,  in  1527,  wrote ;  "  Prophetas  ver- 
nacula  donatos  Wormatia  non  contemno,  nisi  quod  Cermanismus, 
obscurior  est,  forte  natura  illius  regionis.  Fecerunt  diligentiam 
quia  autem  omnia  attingat?"     De  Wette,  iii.  172. 


196  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

of  Anabaptists,  which  had  been  kept  small  by  im- 
prisonment and  banishment.  All  the  other  Ana- 
baptist leaders  were  now  dead.  A  way  was  soon 
to  be  discovered  in  which  the  career  of  Hetzer, 
also,  could  be  brought  to  an  end. 

Anabaptism,  in  Constance,  was  not  punishable  by 
death,  as  in  the  Canton  of  Zurich.  Hetzer  might 
be  arrested  as  an  Anabaptist,  but  the  Council  could 
do  no  more  than  to  imprison  or  banish  him.  Tow- 
ard the  end  of  October,  possibly  six  weeks  later, 
Hetzer  was  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison,  where 
he  remained  until  early  in  the  following  year.  On 
the  3d  of  February  he  was  brought  before  the 
magistrate,  Jacob  Zeller.  So  far  as  the  record 
shows,  Hetzer  was  the  only  witness.  In  the  scanty 
report  of  the  trial  which  is  found  in  the  city 
archives  at  Constance,  it  is  said  that  Hetzer  made 
a  frank  confession.  He  had  married  Anna,  the 
wife  of  George  Kegel,  of  Augsburg,  but  not  until 
after  Kegel's  death.  He  had  received  from  her  a 
ring  in  confirmation  of  the  marriage,  and  many 
times  he  had  received  money  from  her.  He  had 
also  another  wife,  Appolonia,  the  maid  of  Anna 
Kegel.  He  had  persuaded  Anna  Kegel  that  this  was 
not  wrong,  but  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God.1 

1  Archives  of  Constance,  city  records  for  the  years  1529  and 
1530. 


SEVERER  MEASURES  ADOPTED.        197 

It  is  admitted  by  Koim1  that,  as  the  record 
stands,  Hetzer  had  done  nothing  which,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  laws  of  Constance  at  that  time,  was 
punishable  with  death ;  but  he  adds  that  Hetzer's 
crime  seemed  to  the  natural  feeling  so  abnormally 
immoral,  so  systematically  and  fundamentally  shame- 
less, that  the  death  penalty  was  invoked.  And  so, 
having  been  adjudged  guilty,  he  was  condemned  to 
death;  but  so  much  consideration  was  shown  to 
him,  that  at  the  request  of  his  friends  it  was  de- 
cided that  he  should  be  executed  by  the  sword. 

It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  notice  that  in  the  corre- 
spondence between  Zwingli  and  his  friends  at  Con- 
stance, as  it  appears  in  Zwingli's  works,  there  is 
not  a  line  that  refers  to  this  matter.  What  we 
know  concerning  the  affair,  aside  from  the  court 
record,  is  taken  for  the  most  part  from  a  letter  of 
John  Zwick  to  Ambrose  Blaurer,  written  February 
6,  1529,  the  day  after  Hetzer's  execution,  and  also 
from  an  account  of  Hetzer's  last  moments  by 
Thomas  Blaurer. 

According  to  Blaurer,  Hetzer  received  the  an- 
nouncement  of  his  sentence  with  indescribable  joy. 
During  the  day,  as  if  he  had  been  appointed  to 
some   high   honor,  he  was   visited   by  a  throng  of 

1  Jahrbiicher  far  Deutsche  Theologie,  1856,  s.  282. 


198  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

people  of  every  rank  in  society, — members  of  the 
Council,  clergymen,  citizens,  without  reference  to 
party  or  religion, — and  with  all,  except  the  city 
pastors,  Zwick  and  Metzler,  he  talked  freely.  "  He 
conducted  himself  well  and  with  propriety,"  says 
John  Zwick ;  "  God  be  praised  on  his  behalf." 
The  night  that  followed  was  not  passed  in  sleep. 
The  friends  of  the  condemned  were  with  him,  and 
at  his  request  psalms  and  hymns  were  sung. 
During  the  night  Hetzer  referred  to  his  translation 
of  the  Scriptures,  and  gave  expression  to  the  satis- 
faction he  derived  from  the  service  he  had  rendered 
in  translating  the  Old  Testament  into  the  language 
of  the  common  people.  "  He  addressed  us  all  as 
his  dear  brethren,"  says  Zwick.  "  In  the  morning 
he  constrained  us  all  to  pray  with  him.  The  room 
was  very  full  indeed.  He  now  prayed  to  God  with 
a  seriousness  such  as  I  have  never  seen  or  heard. 
After  that  he  gave  an  exhortation  to  us  preachers, 
and  mingled  with  it  a  few  words  on  infant  baptism, 
that  we  should  not  enforce  it,  as  if  we  must  whether 
or  no  baptize  the  children,  but  suffer  it  to  be  quite 
free.  He  spoke  also  very  briefly  and  in  a  very 
desultory  manner  on  some  other  points,  but  after 
such  a  sort  that  no  one  could  reprove  him.  Would 
to  God  we  had  in  print  what  he  said  to  us!  Oh, 
it  is  very  well  to  dispute  of  many  things  when  we 


SEVERER  MEASURES  ADOPTED.        199 

have  not  much  else  to  do,  but  when  death  draws 
near  then  all  disputing  is  at  an  end." 

When  he  was  led  to  the  Council  Chamber,  where 
his  sentence  was  publicly  declared,  Hetzer  expressed 
his  satisfaction,  and  asked  only  that  the  Burgomaster 
would  regard  tenderly  his  loved  ones,  and  also  the 
poor  prisoners,  with  whose  wretched  condition  he  had 
become  acquainted  during  his  own  imprisonment. 
Then  he  was  delivered  to  the  executioner.  A  few 
earnest  words  to  the  people  followed.  On  his  way  to 
the  place  of  execution  he  referred  to  his  companions 
who  had  already  obtained  the  martyr's  crown. 
Mantz,  Hut,  Langenmantel,  Sattler,  and  Hubmeier. 
At  the  Upper  Market  he  addressed  the  people.  "  Con- 
stance," he  said,  "  ought  not  to  have  God's  word  in 
the  mouth  only,  but  exhibit  it  in  the  life.  Therewith 
he  offered  up  a  fervent  prayer,  so  that  many  of  the 
people  wept  with  him,  and  throughout  the  whole 
of  his  progress  he  was  cheerful  and  unappalled." 

At  the  block  Hetzer  opened  his  Hebrew  Psalter, 
requested  the  people  to  kneel  with  him,  and  then  in 
a  clear,  loud  voice  he  translated  the  25 th  Psalm.  At 
the  loth  verse  as  he  read,  "  For  he  shall  pluck  my 
feet  out  of  the  net,"  he  looked  down  to  the  cords  with 
which  he  was  bound,  while  the  people  with  sobs  re- 
peated the  words  after  him.  At  the  close  of  the 
Scripture  reading,  Hetzer  offered  the  Lord's  Prayer, 


200  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZEELAND. 

concluding  his  supplication  with  "Through  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the  world  by  his  blood.1  As 
the  headman  approached,  he  prayed  that  God  would 
not  leave  him.  "  God  will  not  forsake  thee,"  said  one 
who  heard  his  prayer.  For  a  moment  only  was  the 
weakness  of  the  flesh  manifest  as  the  color  mounted 
to  his  cheeks.  Then  he  knelt,  laid  his  head  upon  the 
block,  and  unterrified  received  the  fatal  stroke.  "A 
nobler  and  more  manful  death,"  says  John  Zwick, 
"  was  never  seen  in  Constance.  He  suffered  with  great- 
er propriety  than  I  had  given  him  credit  for.  They 
who  knew  not  that  he  was  a  heretic  and  an  Anabap- 
tist could  have  observed  nothing  in  him.  Very  many 
of  the  opposite  party  who  were  present  thought  he 
would  have  said  something;  on  account  of  our  doctrine 
and  against  the  preachers;  but  not  a  word.  We 
were  all  with  him  to  his  end,  and  may  the  Almighty; 
the  eternal  God,  grant  to. me  and  to  the  servants  of 

1  It  has  been  said  that  Hetzer  rejected  the  atonement  of  Christ 
and  we  are  referred  to  one  of  his  hymns  : 

Ja  spricht  die  Welt,  es  ist  nicht  noth,  dass  ich  mit  Christo  lyde ; 
Er  litt  doch  selbs  fyr  mich  den  tod  nun  zech  ich  uf  sin  kryde, 
Er  zalt  fyr  mich  daselb  gloub  ich  ;  hiemit  ists  usgerichtet. 
0  Bruder  min !  Es  ist  ein  Schyn,  der  Tyfel  hats  erdichtet. 

Referring  to  these  lines,  Fiisslin  (Kirchen  u.  Ketzerhistorie)  says : 
"  He  punishes  only  the  fools,  who  convert  Christian  faith  into 
carnal  security,  and  think  Christ  has  done  enough  for  them,  and 
that  they  can  live  as  they  please." 


SEVERER  MEASURES  ADOPTED.        201 

his  word  like  mercy  in  the  day  when  he  shall  call  us 
home."  Thomas  Blaurer  closes  his  account  of  Het- 
zer's  last  moments  with  these  words  :  "  No  one  has 
with  so  much  charity,  so  courageously  laid  down  his 
life  for  anabaptism  as  Hetzer.  He  was  like  one  who 
spoke  with  God  and  died."1 

And  yet  we  are  asked  to  believe  that  Hetzer  was 
immoral  in  heart  and  life  !  Let  those  believe  it  who 
can.  Certainly  adulterers  and  the  friends  of  harlots 
are  not  wont  to  spend  their  last  hours  on  earth  in 
such  tranquil  communion  with  God,  or  to  die  as 
triumphant  a  death.  Of  the  charge  of  polygamy 
which  was  brought  against  Hetzer  by  some  early 
writers,  Fiisslin,2  after  an  examination  of  the  evidence 
upon  which  the  charge  rests,  says  that  it  has  no 
weight  whatever ;  that  Hetzer  neither  approved  nor 
practiced  polygamy.  Concerning  the  charge  of  immo- 
rality, he  says  all  that  is  known  is  that  "  a  certain 
Eeglingerin  and  a  certain  Appele"  were  the  occasion 
of  anguish  and  unrest  to  Hetzer  in  his  last  hours. 
The  source  of  this  remark,  as  he  tells  us,  is  John 
Zwick's  letter   to  which  we   have  already  referred. 

1  The  letter  of  John  Zwick  will  be  found  in  A  Martyrology  of 
the  Churches  of  Christ,  published  by  the  Hanserd  Knollys  So- 
ciety; i.  p.  97-100.  See  also  Jahrbiicher  f.  Deutsche  Theologie,  1856, 
2te  Heft ;  s.  285-287. 

2  Neue  und  unpartheyische  Kirchen  u.  Ketzerhistorie,  iii.  s.  269. 

9* 


202  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN  SWITZEELAND. 

And  this  is  all  that  John  Zwick  says  on  this  point : 
"  The  room  was  full  of  people,  who  sing  psalm3  the 
whole  night  through;  for  he  himself  sought  as  much 
as  possible  thereby  to  overcome  some  of  his  temp- 
tations. Hard,  hard  conflicts  did  he  have  concerning 
Keglingler,  and  afterwards  also  on  account  ofAppelen. 
He  was  not,  however,  in  the  least  fantastical,  like 
many  Baptists."  This  is  certainly  a  very  slight 
foundation  for  so  grave  a  charge. 

On  the  other  hand,  Hetzer's  previous  character  is 
not  to  be  forgotten.  Until  within  two  years  before 
his  death  he  was  the  trusted  friend  and  companion,  of 
such  men  as  Zwingli  and  Oecolampadius.  In  the 
letters  of  Capito  to  Zwingli,  written  in  Strasburg  in 
1527,  while  Hetzer  was  living  there,  and  after  he 
became  an  Anabaptist,  there  is  not  even  a  hint  of 
Hetzer's  impurity,  although  Capito  bitterly  assails 
Hetzer's  views.  Furthermore,  Hetzer's  writings  are 
a  witness  to  the  purity  of  his  character.  He  loved 
the  word  of  God,  and  ever  insisted  upon  loyalty  to  its 
commandments.  I  cannot  but  think,  therefore,  that 
the  Moravian  Chronicle  is  right  in  saying  that  Hetzer 
was  condemned  for  "  the  sake  of  divine  truth,"  as  it 
is  certainly  right  in  saying  that  he  "  nobly"  bore 
witness  to  divine  truth  "by  his  blood."1 

1  A  Martyrology  of  the  Churches  of  Christ,  i.  p.  101. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE    WORK    OF    EXTERMINATION   COMPLETED. 

Blaurock,  who  was  banished  from  Zurich  at  the 
time  of  Mantz's  execution,  we  find  early  in  1529  in 
Basel,  where,  at  a  public  discussion,  he,  with  nine 
other  Anabaptists,  met  Oecolampadius.  The  latter, 
at  the  outset,*endeavored  to  show  that  from  the  time 
of  Cyprian  infant  baptism  had  been  practiced.  The 
Anabaptists  replied  that  if  we  are  to  go  to  the  Church 
Fathers  for  our  arguments  in  support  of  infant  baptism, 
why  not  allow  the  Romanists  to  do  the  same  in  sup- 
port of  the  mass,  which  Protestants  repudiate  as 
having  no  warrant  in  the  Scriptures.  Oecolampadius 
then  asked  where  in  the  Scriptures  infant  baptism  is 
forbidden.  The  Anabaptists  replied  by  asking 
Oecolampadius  to  show  from  the  Scriptures  that  in- 
fant baptism  was  instituted  for  children.  The  result 
of  the  discussion  was  that  both  parties,  as  usual, 
claimed  a  victory.  Certainly,  the  Anabaptists  made 
an  impression  upon  many  of  the  citizens,  some  of 
whom  were  baptized.1 

1  Starck,  Geschichte  der  Taufe,  s.  202. 

There  has  been  some  discussion  recently  in  reference  to  the 

203 


204  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN   SWITZEELAND. 

Oecolampadius  now  advised  the  Council  not  to 
allow  these  obstinate  Anabaptists  to  remain  in  the 
city.  In  accordance  with  this  advice,  the  Council 
issued  an  edict  April  1,  in  which  it  was  ordered  that 
all  adults  who  allow  themselves  to  be  rebaptized,  or 
who  teach  Anabaptism  and  forbid  infant  baptism,  and 
all  those  who  do  not  intend  to  have  their  children 
baptized,  and  who  give  their  support  to  the  Anabap- 
tist movement,  should  from  that  time  be  arrested  and 
imprisoned,  and  kept  on  bread  and  water  until  they 
were  willing  to  retract  their  errors  publicly.     If  this 

practice  of  immersion  by  the  Anabaptists  of  Switzerland.  Atten- 
tion has  already  been  directed  to  the  immersion,  early  in  1525,  of 
Wolfgang  Ulimann  in  the  Rhine  at  Schaff  hausen,  and  of  the  con: 
verts  of  St.  Gall  a  few  weeks  later.  I  find  no  further  examples  in 
.the  records.  But  the  fact  that  the  Senate  of  Zurich  subsequently 
decreed  (Zwingli,  Opera,  iii.  s.  364)  that  anyone  immersing  a 
candidate  in  baptism — qui  merserit  baptismo — should  be  drowned, 
is  a  significant  hint.  Kessler  (Sabbata,  i.  s.  270)  tells  us  that  at 
St.  Gall  the  Anabaptists  had  a  "  Taufhaus"  or  baptistry.  Sicher, 
a  Romanist  eye-witness  (Arx,  Geschichte  d.  Stadt,  St.  Gallen,  ii.  s. 
501)  says  :  "  The  number  of  the  converted  [at  St.  Gall]  increased 
so  that  the  baptistry  could  not  contain  the  crowd,  and  they  were 
compelled  to  use  the  streams  and  the  Sitter  River.''  John  Stumpf, 
in  his  Gemeiner  Loblicher  Eydgenossenschaft,  who  during  the  per- 
iod under  survey  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  Zurich,  and  was  familiar 
with  the  history  of  the  Anabaptist  movement,  says  that  gener- 
ally the  early  Anabaptists  of  Switzerland  were  "  rebaptized  in 
rivers  and  streams." 


work:  of  extermination  completed.      205 

were  clone  and  they  should  again  fall  into  the  same 
errors,  they  were  to  be  regarded  as  apostates  and  suffer 
death  by  the  sword.  It  was  also  ordered  that  those 
who  forsake  the  State  churches,  and  attend  the  meet- 
ings of  the  preachers  in  the  fields  and  forests,or  in  other 
secluded  places,  should  be  regarded  as  Anabaptists, 
even  though  they  had  not  been  rebaptized,  and  they 
should  be  treated  as  such.i 

The  Anabaptists  were  in  this  way  scattered  through 
the  country  around,  and  by  their  missionary  labors 
many  converts  were  won.  The  fact  became  known 
to  the  magistrates  in  Basel  and  they  sent  officers  to 
arrest  the  missionaries  and  their  converts.  Many  of 
them  were  secured  and  thrown  into  the  prisons  in 
Basel.  Of  nine  of  the  more  prominent,  three  re- 
tracted. The  others  refused,  and  were  banished. 
"  Nothing,"  says  Starck,2  could  exceed  the  steadfast- 
ness with  which  they  endured  all  this.  They  de- 
clared publicly  that  their  sufferings  had  come  upon 
them  for  the  sake  of  the  people,  and  on  this  account 
they  were  willingly  endured.  Formerly,  when  they 
were  engaged  in  all  kinds  of  wrong-doing,  no  one  per- 
secuted them ;  now,  however,  when  through  baptism 
they  had  received  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  were  living 
godly  lives,   they  were   persecuted   in   all  places." 

1  Bullinger,  Beformationsgeschichte,  li.  s.  100,  101. 

2  Geschichte  der  Taufe,  s.  204. 


206  THE  ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

Some  of  the  banished  at  length  returned,  and  yet 
severer  measures  were  adopted  by  the  magistrates. 
Gastius  tells  us  that  at  Homberg,  a  castle  belonging  to 
the  city  of  Basel,  some  of  the  imprisoned  Baptists 
were  kept.     "All  of  them  were  immersed  in  a  stream 
by  the  guard  three  times  in  one  day,  because  they 
despised    the    oath   tendered   to   them.      Although 
tortured,  they  could  not  be  constrained  to  leave  the 
country,  nor  to  renounce  their  opinions,  often  quoting 
the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  '  Thou  shalt  dwell  in  the 
land.'     One  of  them,  when  about  to  be  drowned  by 
the  executioner  in  the  mountain  torrent  which  crossed 
the  meadow,  addressed  the  minister  of  the  church 
who  had  been  for  many  years  his  friend.     He  ex- 
horted him  to  give  up  his  ecclesiastical  benefice ;  for 
never,    until   then,    could   he   sincerely   preach   the 
gospel.    While  the  words  were  issuing  from  his  mouth 
the  prisoner  was  precipitated  into  the  abyss  of  waters 
from  the  trunk  of  the  tree  on  which  he  sat  bound."1 
Blaurock  seems  to  have  made  his  way  into  the 
Canton  of  Appenzell ;  for  April  16,  1529,  the  Council 
addressed  a  letter  to  the  Council  at  Zurich  2  asking 
information  concerning  him.    He  had  previously  been 
banished  from   the  land,    it  was  said;  but  he   had 
returned  and   resumed   his   labors,   preaching   and 

1  Gastius,  de  Anab.  Exordio,  210-214. 

2  Egli,  Actensammlung,  s.  660,  Nr.  1558. 


WORK  OF  EXTERMINATION  COMPLETED.         207 

baptizing.  He  was  doubtless  again  banished,  for 
not  long  after  this  he  appeared  in  the  Tyrol, 
where  at  Claussen,  in  the  same  year, l  he  was  burned 
at  the  stake,  and  tested  the  truth  of  the  words  of  one 
of  his  own  hymns,  in  which,  referring  to  the  Lord, 
he  says : 

"  Wie  er  dann  selbst  gelitten  hat, 
Als  er  am  Creutz  gehangen, 

Also  es  jetzt  den  froinmen  gaht, 
Sie  leiden  grossen  zwangen."  2 

In  the  Eegensburg  district,  north  of  Zurich,  the 
Anabaptists  still  showed  some  strength.  One  of 
the  officers  of  the  district  reported  that  his  efforts  to 
have  the  people  attend  church  had  not  been  attended 
with  much  success.  The  Anabaptists  still  refused 
to  partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper  in  the  churches, 
urging  as  an  excuse  that  they  would  thereby  "  eat 
damnation  " ;  and  at  Watt,  where  their  numbers  seem 
to  have  been  the  greatest  now,  they  secretly  observed 
at  Easter  the  Lord's  Supper   among   themselves."3 

April  27, Gross- Jacob,  John,  Felix,  and  Henry  Frei, 
Felix  Schwartz,  John  Wagner,  Conrad  Stein,  and 
Eudolph  Schmid,  on  account  of  their  continual  adhe- 
rence to  the  "  Anabaptist  Sect."  before  release  from 

1  Cornelius,  Geschichte  des  Miinsterischen  Aufruhrs,  ii.  s.  59. 

2  Auss  Bundt,  Lied  v.  25  stanza. 

3  Egli,  Actensammlung,  s.  661,  Nr.  1560. 


208  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZEELAND. 

prison  under  reprimand  were  fined  a  silver  mark 
for  holding  private  meetings,  not  appearing  at  the 
Lord's  Supper  at  Easter,  and  for  disobedience  of  the 
mandate  in  spite  of  repeated  warnings.  Gross-Jacob 
as  the  ringleader  was  fined  two  marks.1 

In  Appenzell  the  Anabaptists  were  still  numer- 
ous, especially  in  Teuferi.  At  a  discussion  which 
was  held  at  that  place  in  October,  1529,  about  four 
hundred  Anabaptists  were  present,  but  the  result 
seems  not  to  have  been  satisfactory.  Zwingli  thought 
that  the  magistrates  in  Appenzell  dealt  too  tenderly 
with  the  Anabaptists,  and  sought  through  the  Coun- 
cil of  Zurich  to  induce  them  to  suppress  the  hated 
sect.  January  10,  1530,  the 'matter  was  presented 
to  the  Appenzell  delegates  who  were  present  at  the 
Diet  in  Zurich.2 

But  the  Anabaptists  in  Appenzell  received  a  heavier 
blow  a  little  later.  Wolfgang  Ulimann,  who  had 
united  his  fortunes  with  the  Anabaptists  in  Moravia, 
returned  to  his  native  land,  in  order  to  ind,uce  his 
brethren  in  the  fold  to  leave  their  mountain  homes 
and  go  with  him  to  a  country  where  the  means  of  life 
were  more  abundant,  and  where  they  would  be  be- 
yond the  reach  of  religious  persecution.  They  lis- 
tened to  his  words,  and  with  hearts  full  of  hope  many 

1  Egli,  Actensammlung,  663,  Nr.  1561. 

2  Zellweger,  Oeschichte  d.  Appenzellischen  Volhes,  iii.  s.  183,  184. 


WORK  OF  EXTERMINATION  COMPLETED.         209 

gathered  together  their  earthly  possessions  and  set 
oat  with  him  on  their  long  journey.  When  they 
reached  Waldsee,  however,  Truchsess  fell  upon  them 
and  seized  their  persons  and  their  property.  Ulimann 
and  all  of  the  men  who  refused  to  give  up  their 
Anabaptist  views  were  beheaded.  The  women,  who 
were  equally  steadfast,  were  drowned.  Those  who 
retracted,  together  with  the  children,  were  compelled 
to  return  to  their  old  homes.1 

In  the  Gruningen  district  Anabaptism  seems  to 
have  been  very  effectually  suppressed.  John  Mtiller, 
of  Medikon,  is  the  last  of  the  brethren  there  of  whom 
we  have  any  record.  He  had  been  %  thrown  into 
prison,  and  at  the  close  of  1529,  he  was  ex- 
amined, and  an  attempt  was  made  to  extort  from 
him  a  promise  to  attend  church.  He  asked  the  priv- 
ilege of  consulting  with  his  friends,  and  urged  the 
Council  to  act  upon  the  precept  of  the  Saviour. 
"  Whatsover  we  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you, 
do  ye  even  so  to  them."  Subsequently  Mtiller,  in  a 
letter  to  the  Council,  called  the  attention  of  his  per- 
secutors to  some  other  passages  of  Scripture.  "  Do 
not  burden  my  conscience,"  he  wrote,  "  since  faith 
is  a  free  gift  of  God,  and  as  the  Scripture  shows,  not 
every  man's  possession.     It  is  not  born  of  the  will  of 

i  Kessler,  Sabbata,  ii.  s.  253. 


210  THE   ANABAPTISTS   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

the  flesh,  but  of  the  will  of  God.  For  as  many  as  are 
led  of  the  Spirit,  they  are  the  sons  of  God.  And 
every  good  gift  cometh  down  from  above,  from  the 
Father  of  lights.  '  Eo  man  cometh  unto  me  except 
the  Father  draw  him.'  The  secret  of  God  is  concealed, 
like  a  treasure  in  the  field,  which  no  man  can  find 
unless  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  reveal  it  unto  him.  So, 
I  beseech  you,  ye  servants  of  God,  to  leave  me  free 
in  the  matter  of  faith."  l  Muller  seems  to  have  made 
an  attempt  to  escape  from  prison,  and  having  been 
unsuccessful  he  excused  himself  to  the  magistrates  in 
these  words :  "  Dear  friends,  be  not  surprised  that  I 
attempted  to  break  out,  for  necessity  compelled  me 
thereto."  This  is  the  same  man  of  whom  the  bailiff 
wrote  in  August,  1528,  that  he  was  a  pious  man, 
Anabaptistically  inclined ;  and  later  that  aside  from 
his  Anabaptist  views,  he  was  "  a  fine,  pious  fellow."2 
He  was  released  early  in  1530  on  his  promise  to  re- 
cognize infant  baptism  and  attend  a  parish  church. 

In  the  district  north  of  Zurich  the  work  of  persecu- 
tion still  went  on.  Whole  families  were  thrown  into 
prison,  in  order  to  destroy  the  nests  of  Anabaptism, 
as  it  was  said ;  and  they  were  kept  in  prison  until 
they  retracted  and  promised  to  attend  the  State 
churches,  while  their  leader,  Conrad  Winkler,  was 

1  Egli,  Actensammlung ,  694,  Nr.  1635. 

2  Egli,  Die  Zliricher  Wiedertaufer,  s.  86,  87. 


WORK  OF  EXTERMINATION  COMPLETED.         211 

condemned  to  die,  and  was  drowned,  January  20, 
1530.1  He  was  the  fourth  martyr  which  the  records 
of  Zurich  reveal.  Bernard  Weesen,  who  was  a  resi- 
dent of  Zurich  at  this  time,  and  who  fell  at  the  battle 
of  Cappel,  says  that  Winkler  was  put  to  death  "  for 
having  rebaptized,  against  express  command,  so 
many  people  that  he  did  not  know  the  number.  He 
leaped  up,  struck  his  hands  together  as  if  he  rejoiced 
at  his  death  ;  and  immediately  before  he  was  thrust 
under  [water]  he  sang  with  clear  voice  one  or  two 
verses  of  a  psalm."  2 

Among  those  who  refused  to  retract  was  John 
Bruppacher  of  Zumikon.  He  was  at  length  sub- 
jected to  the  rack  and  examined  in  reference  to  the 
views  of  the  Anabaptists,  and  also  concerning  their 
leaders.  He  said  that  he  had  never  heard  that  Ana- 
baptists teach  that  there  should  be  no  magistracy;  or 
that  in  case  they  should  be  successful,  they  would 
overthrow  the  same.  At  Basel  he  had  not  seen 
Winkler,  Blaurock,  and  other  Anabaptists.  He  had 
thought  and  believed  that  preachers  at  present  do  not 
rightly  declare  the  divine  word.  February  9,  it  was 
ordered  by  the  Council  that  he  should  be  kept  on 

1  Egli,  Die  ZuricherWiedertdufer,  s.  89.  He  had  been  especially 
successful  in  his  labors  in  Baden  and  Basel,  see  Egli,  Actemamm- 
lung,  091,  ii.  Nr.  1631,  695,  Nr.  1657. 

^Fiisslm,  BcytrlUje,  iv.  s.  121. 


212  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

bread  and  water,  sick  or  well,  in  the  New  Tower  until 
lie  recanted.1 

An  added  effort  for  the  suppression  of  Anabaptists 
was  made  by  the  Zurich  Council,  March  26,  1530. 
"  We  are  determined/'  said  its  members,  "  not  to 
tolerate  Anabaptists  within  our  borders.  There  must 
be  no  fellowship  with  them  whatever."  And  it  was 
ordained  that  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  Canton,  and 
all  in  any  way  allied  with  them,  especially  all  supe- 
rior and  inferior  officers,  magistrates,  etc.,  should 
seize  the  brethren,  wherever  discovered,  and  deliver 
them  to  the  Council,  to  be  punished  according  to  the 
law  by  death.  Those  who  should  aid  them,  or  abstain 
from  giving  information  concerning  them,  or  from 
arresting  them,  should  be  punished  according  to 
their  deserts,  and  without  any  favor,  for  violating 
the  oath  they  had  taken  to  sustain  those  in  author- 
ity.2 

In  Basel,  in  the  summer  of  1530,  a  few  renounced 
Anabaptism  under  the  pressure  of  persecution ;  but 
the  many  seem  to  have  remained  steadfast.  Those 
who  were  put  to  death  only  strengthened  the  faith 
of  the  brethren.  For  one  of  the  condemned,  Oeco- 
lampadius   besought   the  clemency   of  the   judges. 

i  Egli  Actcnsammlimg,  696,  Nr.  1642. 

2  Bullinger,  Heformationsgeschichte,  ii.  s.  287,  Egli,  Actensamm- 
lung,  710,  Nr.  1656. 


WORK  OF  EXTERMINATION  COMPLETED.         213 

They  had  given  a  just  decision,  he  said,  but  he  had 
been  moved  by  the  earnest  appeal  of  the  prisoner, 
and  desired  that  his  life  might  be  spared.  The 
judges  referred  the  case  to  the  Council,  and  the  man 
was  remanded  to  prison.  After  some  six  months  he 
received  his  pardon,  on  the  understanding  that  he 
would  retract ;  and  he  was  taken  to  his  home  where 
he  repeated  the  story  which  others  had  told  before, 
that  since  he  had  become  interested  in  virtue  and 
religion  he  had  suffered  persecution,  while  so  long  as 
he  lived  in  wickedness  no  one  molested  him.1 

By  a  new  decree,  issued  by  the  Basel  Council,  No- 
vember 13,  1530,  the  Anabaptists,  and  those  who 
shared  their  views  concerning  the  magistracy,  and 
gave  them  shelter,  were  threatened  with  imprison- 
ment ;  if  they  would  not  retract,  they  should  be 
banished ;  if  they  returned,  or  fell  away  after  retrac- 
tion, they  should  be  dipped  in  water  (geschwemmt) 
and  sent  away,  with  the  threat  that  should  they 
return  they  would  be  drowned.2 

Zwingli  was  killed  at  the  battle* of  Cappel,  Octo- 
ber 11,  1531.  If  there  were  those  who  entertained 
the  hope  that  the  Anabaptists  in  the  Canton  of  Zu- 
rich would  now  find  the  hand  of  persecution  lighter 
than  heretofore,  they  were  doomed  to  disappointment. 

1  Herzog,  Das  Leben  J.  Oekolampads,  ii.  s.  188,  189. 

2  Herzog,  Das  Leben  J.  Oekolampads,  ii.  s.  307. 


214  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

The  work  of  extirpation  still  went  on.  In  March, 
1532,  several  Anabaptists  were  brought  to  trial,1  and 
March  23,  George  Karpfis  and  Hans  Herzog  were 
put  to  death  by  drowning,  the  fifth  and  sixth  and  last 
of  the  Zurich  martyrs.2 

In  some  of  the  other  Cantons  Anabaptism  still 
flourished.  In  April,  1531,  there  was  a  discussion 
at  Berne,  in  which  two  Anabaptists  participated,  one 
of  whom,  Phistermaier,  was  at  length  induced  to  re- 
cant. In  the  following  year  the  number  of  the  breth- 
ren in  the  Cantons  of  Berne,  Appenzell,  and  Solo- 
thurn  greatly  increased,  and  the  severer  measures 
which  had  been  so  successful  in  the  Canton  of  Zurich 
were,  with  some  modifications,  enacted  and  enforced  in 
these  Cantons.  Anabaptists  were  banished,  and  if 
they  were  afterward  found  within  the  Canton  limits, 
they  were  dipped  in  water,  and  at  length  drowned. 
But  these  severer  measures  for  awhile,  as  in  the  Can- 
ton of  Zurich,  only  increased  the  number  of  the  Ana- 
baptists. Many  who  beheld  their  steadfastness  in 
persecution  were  convinced  that  there  was  that  in 
their  religion  which  others  did  not  possess  ;  and  the 
members  of  the  Council  of  Berne  were  at  first  in 
doubt  whether  to  continue  in  force  the  edicts  against 

i  Egli,  Adensammlung,  781,  782,  784,  Nr,  1819,1820,  1821,1826. 
2  Egli,  Die  Ziiricher  Wiedcrtciufcr  s.  91,  Actensammlung ,  786, 
Nr.  1829. 


WORK  OF  EXTERMINATION  COMPLETED.    215 

the  Anabaptists,  inasmuch  as  persecution  increased 
rather  than  diminished  the  membership  of  the  hated 
sect.1 

In  1532,  a  discussion  was  held  at  Zoffingen  in 
Aargau,  at  which  were  present  a  large  number  of 
Anabaptists,  to  whom  a  safe  conduct  was  given. 

The  more  prominent  of  the  opponents  of  the  Ana- 
baptists were  Berthold  Haller,  Casper  Megander,  Se- 
bastian Oeconomus,  and  George  Stahelin ;  of  the 
Anabaptists,  Martin  Weniger,  John  Hotz,  Michael 
Ott,  Simon  Lantz,  and  Christian  Brugger.  The  dis- 
cussion 2  was  continued  from  the  first  to  the  ninth 
of  July,  but  was  fruitless  in  result,  except  that  it 
was  followed  by  new  edicts  for  the  suppression  of 
Anabaptism.3 

These  edicts,  as  in  all  the  Cantons,  were  rigidly 
enforced,  and  the  Anabaptist  churches  rapidly  dis- 
appeared. At  times,  and  here  and  there,  a  voice 
was  heard  pleading  for  liberty  of  conscience.  Indeed, 
in  June  1535,  "  the  ordained  servants  of  the  Church 
at  Zurich,  preachers,  readers,  and  assembled  pastors 
of  the  land,"  deemed  it  necessary  to  vindicate  their 

1  Starck,  Geschicte  der  Taufe,s.  217. 

2  Handlung  oder  acta  gehaltner  Disputatio  und  Gesprach  zu 
Zoffingen  inn  Bernner  Biet  mit  denWidertdnffcrn.  Zilrich,Christof- 
fel  Froschaucr,  1532. 

3  BuUinger,  Der  Wiedertdvffern  Ursprung,  s.  15. 


216  THE   ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

position.  "  There  are  those/'  they  said,  "  who  tell 
us  that  the  magistrates  ought  not  to  punish  in  body 
or  in  estate  those  who  mislead  others,  or  are  misled 
by  others  ;  since  first,  the  apostles  did  not  do  so,  and 
second,  faith  is  the  gift  of  God  and  it  cannot  be  given 
or  taken  away  by  force."  These  points  they  combat- 
ed, concluding  as  follows : 

"Let  those  who  will  recant  be  pardoned.  Those 
who  relapse  should  be  punished  as  evil-doers  in  ac- 
cordance with  divine,  secular,  and  imperial  edicts."1 

The  edicts  of  the  secular  power  in  Switzerland  have 
already  been  noticed.  The  imperial  edict,  which  was 
enacted  at  the  Diet  of  Spires,  was  dated  April  23, 
1529,  and  was  as  follows : 

"  Therefore  we  decree  that  every  Anabaptist  and 
rebaptized  person,  of  whatever  age  or  sex,  be  put  to 
death  by  sword,  or  fire,  or  otherwise.  All  preachers 
and  those  who  abet  and  conceal  them,  all  who  persist 
in  Anabaptism,  or  relapse  after  retraction,  must  be 
put  to  death.     In  no  case  must  they  be  pardoned." 

But  the  supression  of  Anabaptism  in  Switzerland 
was  due  more  to  the  loss  of  the  leaders 2  of  the 
movement  than  to  the  multiplication  of  such  edicts, 

1  Fusslin,  Beytrdge.  iii.  s.  191-201. 

2  "  What  extraordinary  men  these  leaders  must  have  been," 
says  Egli.  "  we  learn  especially  from  their  followers,  of  whom 
many,  as  Hans  Miiller  of  Medikon,  possessed  more  than 
usual  gifts."     Die  Zuricher  Wiedertdufer,  s.  92. 


WORK  OF  EXTERMINATION  COMPLETED.         217 

however  ruthlessly  enforced.  Grebel,  Hubmeier, 
Mantz,  Denk,  Hetzer,  and  Blaurock  had  no  succes- 
sors, and  the  growing  numbers  of  the  brotherhood,  at 
any  period  of  their  history,  did  not  make  good  this 
loss.  Though  henceforth,  in  the  records  of  the 
magistrates,  we  read  occasionally  of  Anabaptists,  the 
State  Church  had  conquered,  and  secure  in  its 
victory  continued  to  guide  the  work  of  the  Kefor- 
mation  in  Switzerland  in  accordance  with  the  plan 
Zwingli  had  marked  out.1 

1  The  result  of  the  Reformation  in  Switzerland  is  thus  stated 
by  Planta  (History  of  the  Helvetic  Confederacy,  ii.  pp.  165,  166)  : 
"  Four  of  the  Cantons  and  among  them  the  two  principal 
(Zurich,  Berne,  Basel,  and  Schaffhausen),  had  adopted  the  Re- 
formation ;  seven  (Lucerne,  Schwytz,  Unterwalden,  Zug,  Freiburg, 
and  Soleure)  remained  firmly  addicted  to  the  faith  of  their  an- 
cestors ;  and  two  (Appenzell  and  Glaris)  admitted  both  religions 
into  their  country  as  well  as  their  senates.  Of  the  three  and 
twenty  subject  districts,  only  Morat  and  Granson  became  wholly 
Protestant,  sixteen  retained  their  former  creed,  and  five  became 
mixed.  Among  the  allies  of  Geneva,  Neuchatel,  Berne,  Miihl- 
hausen,  and  the  town  of  St.  Gallen  renounced  the  doctrines  of 
Rome;  while  the  diminutive  republic  of  Gerson,  and  the  abbey 
of  En gelberg,  persisted  in  their  former  worship.  In  the  Grison 
leagues,  after  great  disturbances  and  many  fluctuations,  both 
creeds  were  at  length  admitted  by  public  authority.  The  Re- 
formation had  at  one  time  made  a  considerable  progress  in  the 
Valais,  the  Valtelline  and  the  Italian  Bailiwicks,  but  Popery  at 
last  prevailed  ;  and  at  Locarno  those  who  refused  to  adhere  to 
the  established  doctrines  were  compelled  to  quit  the  country,  on 
which  occasion  no  less  than  sixty  families,  among  whom  were 
several  of  considerable  note,  withdrew  to  Zurich,  and  contributed 
essentially  to  promote  both  the  commerce  and  manufactures  of 
that  already  prosperous  city." 

10 


CHAPTER  XII. 


CONCLUSION. 


We  have  thus  reviewed  the  history  of  the  develop- 
ment and  decline  of  Anabaptism  in  Switzerland.  It 
had  its  origin,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  general 
movement  for  reform,  of  which  Zwingli  was  the 
recognized  leader.  His  cautious  conservatism, 
manifested  at  an  early  stage  qf  the  movement,  was 
an  abomination  to  his  radical  associates,  who,  hav- 
ing adopted  the  principle  that  the  Scriptures  are  of 
supreme  authority  in  matters  of  faith  and  practice, 
turned  continually  to  the  sacred  word  for  divine 
direction,  with  the  desire  to  know  and  do  th  e  will  of 
God.  They  accordindly  refused,  at  the  word  of 
Zwingli  or  of  the  magistrates,  either  to  halt,  or 
even  to  move  more  slowly,  and  pressed  on  as  if 
guided  by  a  heavenly  voice,  saying :  "  This  is  the 
way,  walk  ye  in  it."  They  were  not  perfect  men, 
it  is  true.  They  had  the  faults  of  radicals  generally. 
They  insisted  oftentimes  in  making  haste  when  haste 
was  not  necessary.  Some  of  them  were  not  free  from 
218 


CONCLUSION.  219 

doctrinal  errors.1  A  few  were  fanatical  in  spirit,  and 
were  guilty  of  wild  excesses.  It  is  to  be  remembered, 
however,  that  all  who  were  opposed  to  the  State 
Church  were  classed  with  the  Anabaptists ;  and 
that  as  Cornelius  says.2  "  All  these  excesses  were 
condemned  and  opposed  whenever  a  large  assembly 
of  the  brethren  afforded  an  opportunity  to  give  ex- 
pression to  the  religious  consciousness  of  the  Baptist 
membership."  Thus,  when  it  was  found  there  were 
some  who  affirmed  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the 
freedom  of  the  flesh  as  well  as  of  the  spirit, the  brethren 
assembled  in  conference  at  Schleitheim,  in  the  Schaff- 
hausen  district,  February  24,  1527,  reminded  them 
that  those  only  are  Christians  who  have  crucified  the 
flesh  with  its  lusts ;  and  admonished  the  scattered 
children  of  the  light  everywhere  to  exclude  the  un- 
worthy, and  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  false  brethren 
into  the' churches.  In  fact,  it  was  the  purity  and 
piety  of  the  Anabaptists  that  aided  greatly  in  the 
rapid  spread  of  their  doctrines.     Bullinger  records 

1  In  the  preface  to  vol.  ii.  of  his  Beytrdge,  Fiisslm  says  :  "  There 
was  a  great  difference  between  Anabaptists  and  Anabaptists. 
There  were  those  among  them  who  held  strange  doctrines,  but 
this  cannot  be  said  of  the  whole  sect.  If  we  should  attribute  to 
every  sect  whatever  senseless  doctrines  two  or  three  fanciful 
fellows  have  taught,  there  is  not  one  in  the  world  to  which  we 
could  not  ascribe  the  most  abominable  errors." 

2  Oeschichte  Des  Munsterischen  Aufruhrs,  ii,  s.  67. 


220  THE  ANABAPTISTS  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

this  testimony  as  the  general  verdict  of  the  pious 
among  the  common  people  :  "  One  may  say  what 
he  will  of  the  Baptists.  I  see  nothing  in  them  but 
earnestness,  and  I  hear  nothing  of  them  except  that 
they  will  not  take  an  oath,  will  not  do  any  wrong,  and 
aim  to  treat  every  man  justly.  In  this  it  seems  to 
me,  there  is  nothing  out  of  the  way."1  And  yet 
these  were  the  men  and  women  who  were  driven  from 
their  happy  homes  to  wander  in  the  fields  and  forests 
as  sheep  without  a  shepherd,  or  were  thrown  into 
foul  dungeons,  and  there  left  to  endure  the  gnawings 
of  hunger  and  the  pains  of  a  lingering  imprisonment, 
or  were  led  from  prison  to  death  as  martyrs  for  the 
truth.  Their  memory  should  be  dear  to  us,  and  we 
should  give  them  the  place  they  deserve  among 
those  who  have  suffered  for  conscience'  sake. 

Yet  he  would  greatly  err  who  should  suppose  that 
the  Anabaptist  movement  in  Switzerland  was  a  failure. 
As  Egli  says :  2  "  Anabaptism  apparently  suffered 
defeat,  but  in  fact  it  accomplished  much."  And  he 
adds  :  "  It  was  from  the  beginning  a  ferment  in  the 
development  of  Church  and  State,  and  in  Unterland 
[the  district  between  Zurich  and  the  Ehine]  through 
the  efforts  for  an  improvement  in  discipline  and 
morals,  led  to  the   most   important   results.     Even 

1  Der  Wiedertdufferen  Ursprung,  s.  10. 

2  Die  Ziiricher  Wiedertaufer  s.  93. 


CONCLUSION.  221 

although  its  direct  influence  upon  the  ritual  for  bap- 
tism, the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  the 
Synod  with  its  censorship  of  morals,  upon  the  publica- 
tion of  mandates  pertaining  to  morals,  upon  the  exclu- 
sion of  church  music,  etc.,  may  not  be  fully  estab- 
lished, still  Zwingli  would  not  have  given  attention 
to  church  discipline  for  a  long  time  had  not  his  op- 
ponents compelled  him  to  do  so.  How  many  ideas 
of  the  Baptists  a  later  age  has  justified,  or  will  yet 
justify,  though  perhaps  in  another  form,  we  may  not 
now  here  farther  inquire." 

This  is  a  noteworthy  concession,  and  prepares  us 
for  Egli's  added  remark :  "  Unquestionably  the 
principles  from  which  the  Baptists  proceeded  mani- 
fest a  powerful  grasp  of  original  Christian  ideas." 

Among  these  principles  are  the  following : 

1.  That  the  Scriptures  are  the  only  authority  in 
matters  of  faith  and  practice. 

2.  That  only  personal  faith  in  Christ  secures  salva- 
tion ;  therefore,  infant  baptism  is  to  be  rejected. 

3.  That  a  church  is  composed  of  believers  only 
who  have  been  baptized  on  a  personal  confession  of 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

4.  That  each  church  has  the  entire  control  of  its 
affairs,  without  interference  on  the  part  of  any  exter- 
nal power. 

5.  That  while  the  State  may  demand  obedience  in 


THE   ANABAPTISTS    IN    SWITZERLAND. 

all  things  not  contrary  to  the  law  of  God,  it  has  no 
right  to  set  aside  the  dictates  of  conscience,  and  com- 
pel the  humblest  individual  to  surrender  his  religious 
views,  or  to  inflict  punishment  in  case  such  surrender 
is  refused.  Every  human  soul  is  directly  bound  to 
its  God.  One  man  shares  equal  rights  with  every 
other. 

All  of  these  principles  are  accepted  by  the  Baptist 
churches  to-day.  But  they  have  obtained  a  wider 
recognition.  In  churches  whose  creed  still  solemnly 
inculcates  infant  baptism,  we  find  that  this  fruitful 
source  of  evil  from  the  third  century  is  almost  wholly 
ignored.  At  the  present  time,  also,  other  than  Bap- 
tist churches  insist  upon  a  regenerated  church  mem- 
bership, the  independence  of  the  churches,  religious 
liberty,  and  the  separation  of  Church  and  State.  In 
so  far,  succeeding  ages  have  justified  the  principles  of 
the  Swiss  Anabaptists,  and  it  can  hardly  be  doubted 
that  the  ages  that  shall  follow  will  justify  yet  others. 
Certainly,  not  in  vain  did  the  Anabaptists  of  Swit- 
zerland adopt  these  principles,  and  sacrifice  so  much 
in  maintaining  them. 

THE  END. 


INDEX. 


J^LZOG,  Universal  Church  His- 
tory, quoted,  26 
Appenzell,    added   to   the   Con- 
federation, 18 
Anabaptists  in,  119 
persecution  of  Anabaptists 
in,  203 
Anabaptism,  discussed  at  Zurich, 
106 
first  reference  to  Anabap- 
tism in  connection  with 
the  reform  movement  in 
Switzerland,  99 
prohibited  in  the  Griinin- 

gen  district,  144-146 
prohibited  under  penalty  of 

death,  164 
rapid  spread  of,  100 
Anabaptists,    attitude    towards 
the  Papacy,  107 
character   of  the   Anabap- 
tists at  Chur,  133 
did    they   practice   immer- 
sion ?  203,  note 
flight  from  Waldshut  of  the, 

152 
Fusslin  on  the,  109 
great  activity  of  the,  131 
imprisoned  at  Zollikon,  101 
letter   of  prisoners   to  the 

"  brethren,"  106 
loss  of  leaders,  216 
name,  how  applied,  11 
Peasants'  War  not  partici- 
pated in  by,  110 
persecuted  in  Basel,  190 
persecuted   in  Zurich,  107, 

143 
persecution    increased    the 

numbers  of,  214 
political  designs  of,  102 


some  so  called  never  prac- 
tised Anabaptism,  10 

sources  of  information  on,  11 

statement  of  theGriiningen, 
178-181 

suppression  in  the  Griinin- 
gen  district  of  the,  209 
Arbon,  Castle  of,  Gallus  at,  20 

BASEL  added  to  the  Confede- 
ration. 18 
Anabaptists  imprisoned  and 

put  to  death  in,  190 
edicts  against  the  Anabap- 
tists in,  190,  204 
University  at,  21 
Baur,  Bartholomew,  49,  85 
Beck,  Dr.  Marx,  159.  note 
Bellarmm,  Cardinal,    on    Cor- 
ruption in  the  Church,  25 
Bergenhaus,  Dr..  52 
Berger,  George,  131 
Ber,  Dr.  Ludwig,  23 
Berne,  Anabaptists  in,  188 

joins  the  Confederation,  18 
Bible,  ignorance  of,  in  Switzer- 
land, 28 
Blanche,  Dr.  Martin,  52,  58,  60 
Blaurer,  Ambrose,  197 
Blaurer,  Thomas,  his  account  of 
Ludwig  Hertzer's  last  mo- 
•    ments,  197,  200 
Blaurock,  George,  95 

arrested  at  Hinwyl.  137 
arrested  at  Zollikon,  101 
censures  Zwingli,  102 
cruelly    beaten    at    Zurich 

and  banished,  175 
discusses     infant     baptism 
with    Oecolampadius    at 
Basel,  203 


224 


INDEX. 


discussions    with    Zwingli 

and  Leo  Jud,  161 
in  chains  at  Zurich.  140 
martyrdom  of,  207 
oratorical  gifts  and  zealof,96 
refuses    to   renounce   Ana- 
baptism,  106,  115 
under  sentence,  142 
Bliss,   Dr.    G.  R.,    librarian    of 
Crozer  Theological  Semi- 
nary, 14 
Bodenstein,    Andrew    Rudolph. 

See  Carlstadt. 
Books,  early,  published   in    Ba- 
sel, 24 
Bosshart,  Marx,  129 

arrested,  130 
Brennwald,  Karl,  161 
Brichter,  John,  131 
Brodli  (or  Brodlein),  John,  88 
at  the  discussion   at   Zolli- 

kon,  94,  95 
banished  from  Zurich,  97 
labors  at  Hallau,  113,  115 
letters  to   the  brethren  at 

Zollikon,  113,  114 
martyrdom  of,  115  note 
Brubbach,  John,  100 
Brugger,  Christian,  215 
Bruppacher,  John,  subjected  to 

\    the  rack,  211 
Bubikon,  peasants  attack  Clois- 
ters at,  129 
Bucer,  41,  note 

Bullinger,    Henry,  resists    Ber- 
nard  Samson   at    Brem- 
garten,  37 
Bullinger.  the  historian,  28 

on  a  discussion  at  Zurich, 

196 
on  the  Anabaptists,  219 


(JANTONS,   the    Four    Forest, 

Capito,  assails    Hetzer's   views, 

but  not  his  character,  202 

letter    on   the   progress   of 

reformation  principles,  42 


letter  to  Zwingli  concerning 
Mantz's  martyrdom,  172, 
*      173 
professor   at   Basel,  23,  41 
note 
Carlstadt,  84,  87,  90 

banished  from  Orlamunde, 

91 
his  tracts,  91 
Castelberg,  Andrew,  85,  87,  95 
banished  from  Zurich,  97 
Catrou,  his  History  of  Anabap- 
tists   in    Germany,    Hol- 
land and  England,  9 
Cellarius,  Martin,  92 
Ceporinus,    (Jacob    Wiesendan- 

ger),  75 
Columban,  driven  from  the  coun- 
try, 20 
the  first  Christian  mission- 
ary in  Switzerland,  19 
Confederation,  the,  confirmed  in 
1318,  17 
enacts  a  statute  forbidding 
foreign  priests  to  remain 
in  the  country,  43 
motto  of,  18 

war  with   Emperor   Maxi- 
milian, 18 
Constance,  Bishop  of.    See  Lan- 

denburg,  Hugo 
Contoblikas,  Andronicus,  Greek 

professor  at  Basel,  21 
Cornelius,  on   the   Anabaptists, 
219 
on  Kerssenbroick's  work,  9 
Craux,  John  of,  the  abbot,  29 

J)ENK,  John,  118,  182 

alleged  retraction  of,  185, 
187 

death  of,  187 

engaged  at  Worms  in  trans- 
lating the  prophetical 
books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, 183 

letter  to,  and  discussions 
with,  Oecolampadius  in 
Basel,  185 


INDEX. 


225 


Dexter,  Dr.,  cites  works  on  Ana- 
baptists, 9 

Dominicans,  the,  30 

their  pretended  "  miracle," 
30 

Donatist,  74,  76 

Dorner  on  Swiss  Anabaptists,  11 

JJBERLI,   Hippolytus    (Poet). 

his  martyrdom,  118 
Eck,  Dr.  John,  67,  82 
Egli,  Paster  at  Aussersihl,  13 
on  the  Anabaptist  movement 

in  Switzerland,  220-222 
Elector  of  Saxony,  the,  166 
Engelhard,  150 
Erasmus,  at  Basel,  23 
Everts,  W.  W.  Jr.,  on  Hubmeier, 

158,  note 

JTABER,  Dr.  John,  concerning 

Hubmeier's   Recantation, 

155 

letter  to  Zwingli  of,  41 

opposes  Zwingli  at  the  1st 

Zurich  Discussion,  53,  sq. 

visits  Hubmeier  in  prison, 

159,  note 

Falk,  Jacob,  imprisonment,  167, 
177 
trial  and  martyrdom,  191, 
192 

Ferdinand,  Archduke,  44,  note 

Finsterbach,  Arbogast,  131 

Fleckenstein,  Landvogt,  at  sen- 
tence of  Nicholas  Hottin- 
ger,  72 

Four  Forest  Cantons,  Lake  of 
the,  18 

Franciscans,  the,  30 

Francis  I.  of  France,  46 

Freiburg  added  to  the  Confede- 
ration, 18 
Hetzer  perhaps  educated  at, 
64 

Frei,  John,  Felix,  and  Henry, 
imprisoned  and  fined,  207 

Friedburg,  near  Augsburg,  birth- 
place of  Hubmeier,  67 


Froben,  publisher,  39 
Fiisslin  on  the  Anabaptists,  109 
on    the   persecutions,    165, 
166 

Q.ALLUS,  an  Irish  monk,  the 
associate  and  successor  of 
Columban,  20 
Gastius,  title  of  his  work,  9 

his  account  of  persecutions 
and  martyrdom,  206 
Geyerfalk,  Thomas,  136 
Giger,  Gabriel,  106 
Glarus  joins  the  Confederation, 

18 
Glatz,  Ernest  von,  161 
Grebel,    Agathe   (Euphrosyne1), 
prioress    of     Oedenbach, 
44,  note,  161,  note 
Grebel,  Conrad,  44 

abandons  sprinkling  for  im- 
mersion, 117 
admonished  to  restrain  his 

zeal,  49 
agreement  with  Stumpf,  74 
arrested,  137 
at  Schaffhausen,  104 
at  2nd  Zurich  Discussion,  69 
at  Zurich,  105,  115 
complains  of  Zwingli,  70 
correspondence  with  Miin 

zer  and  Carlstadt,  83 
in  chains,  140 
letter      concerning    magis- 
trates, 166 
letter  concerning  tithes,  62 
makes   a   missionary   tour, 

129 
on  infant  baptism,  77 
replies   to    Zwingli's    tract 

Vom  Touf,  128 
steadfastness  and  death,  160, 

161  and  note,  162 
under  sentence,  142 
view  of  baptism,  86 
visits  Miinzer,  89 
writes  to  the  Council,  94,  95 
Grebel,  Jacob,  44 
beheaded,  45 


226 


INDEX. 


Grebel,  Leopold,  44,  note 
Grebel,  Martha,  wife  of  Vadian, 

44,  note,  161,  note 
Gross,  Jacob,  132,  181 

imprisoned  and  fined,  207 
Grossman,  Caspar,  27,  note 
Griiningen    District,    additional 
edicts  against   the   Ana- 
baptists, 193 
Anabaptists  suppressed,  209 
mandate     of     the     Zurich 
Council  concerning  Ana- 
baptism    to   the    inhabi- 
tants of  the,  144-146 
statement  of  the  Griiningen 
Anabaptists,  178-180 
Gynorans,  Peter,  letter  of  Zwin- 
gli  to,  154 

JJALLAU,    an    entire    church 

baptized  at,  115 
Haller,    Bernard,    his   letter   to 
Zwingli  concerning  tithes 
and  rents,  62 
letter  to  Zwingli,  187 
Haller,      Berthold,     pastor     in 

Berne,  122,  215 
Haller,  John,  50 
Hedio,  41 
Hergarten,  162 
Herzog,   Hans,  his  martyrdom, 

214  • 

Heretic  Tower,  Zurich,  165  note 
Hetzer,  Ludwig,  at  2nd  Zurich 
Discussion,  69,  note 
banished  from  Zurich,  97 
connects  himself  fully  with 

the  Anabaptists,  195 
imprisoned     at    Constance, 

196 
literary  labors  in  Basel  and 

Zurich,  194 
martyr  death  of,  197-201 
tract  against  images  by,  64, 

65 
translation  of  Bugenhagen's 

commentary  by,  95 
trial  and  alleged  crime  of, 
196,  197,  201,  202 


Hindermann,  ,  182 

Hinwyl,  an  important  Anabap- 
tist centre,  130 
Hochriitiner,  71,  104 
Hofmeister,    Dr.    Sebastian,    51, 

57,  104,  153 
Hottinger,   Elizabeth,  161,  162 
Hottinger,  Jacob,  106 
Hottinger,  John,  161 
Hottinger,  Margaret,   142,  161, 

162 
Hottinger,  Nicholas,  49,  85,  94 
destroys  great  cross  at  Zu- 
rich, 65 
banished  from  Zurich,  71 
trial  and  execution  of,  72, 
note 
Hottinger,  Rudolph,  161 
Hottinger,  Ruotsch,  106 
Hottinger,  Uli,  161 
Hotz,  John,  215 
Hubmeier,  Dr.  Balthasar,  born 
at  Friedburg,  near  Augs- 
burg, 67 
at   2nd   Zurich   Discussion, 

69 
baptism  of,  112 
circumstances  of  his  recan- 
tation,    155,     156,    158, 
note 
Concerning  Heretics,  a  tract 

by,  81 
Concerning     the     Christian 
Baptism    of    Believers,  a 
tract  by,  122 
discussion  with  Oecolampa- 
dius   on   infant  baptism, 
134-136 
driven   from   Waldshut    he 
seeks   asylum    in  Schaff- 
hausen,  78,  79 
establishes    an    Anabaptist 
Church    at    Nicholsburg, 
159,  note 
flight    from    Waldshut     to 
Zurich,   where  he  is  ar- 
rested, 152,  153 
letter  to  Oecolampadius  on 
the  ordinances,  95 


INDEX. 


227 


letter  on  infant  baptism, 
112 

martyrdom  of,  159,  note 

martyrdom  of  the  wife  of 
159,  note 

noble  appeal  to  the  Council 
by,  80 

organizes  a  church,  and 
baptizes  more  than  300 
believers  at  Waldshut, 
113 

returns  to  Waldshut  and 
challenges  Eck  to  a  dis- 
cussion, 82 
The  Sum  of  a  Perfect  Chris- 
tian Life,  a  tract  by,  123 
-127 

tract  in  reply  to  Zwingh's 
work  on  baptism,  147- 
152 

treatment  of  at  Zurich,  151 
Twelve  Articles  of  Faith  by, 
157 

writings  and  character   of, 
160,  note 
Huiuf,  Hans,  88 
Hut, ,  199 


IMAGE-BREAKERS,    at    Zu- 
rich, 65 
Imeli,.Jacob,  136 
Imperial  Edict  against  the  Ana- 
baptists, 216 
Indulgences,  Luther's  tract  on, 
39 
6ale   of,   by   Bernard  Sam- 
son, 31 
Infant  baptism  a  civil  ordinance 
in  Zurich,  99 

JETZER,  John,  subject  of  a 
pretended  miracle,  31 

Jud,  Leo,  27,  note,  57,  64,  note, 
106,  153,  161 

Julius  II.,  Pope,  31 

V  ALCH,  Jacob,  162 

Karpfis,  George,  his  martyr- 
dom, 214 


Keim,  on  Ludwig  Hetzer's  trial, 

197 
Kilchmeyer,  Jost,  27,  note 
Krusi,  Hans,  pastor  at  Teuffen, 

119 
his  martyrdom,  120 
Kersen brock,  his  History  of  the 

Anabaptists  of  Munster,  9 


LAKE  of  the  Four  Forest  Can- 
tons, 18 
Landenberg,    Hugo,    Bishop    of 

Constance,  26,  27,  36 
Landgrave,  Philip  of  Hesse,  166 
Langenmantel,  199 
Lantz,  Simon,  215 
Leopold  of  Austria,  defeat  of,  17 
Ling,  Martin,  142 
Lucerne  joins  the  Confederation, 

17 
Luther,  doctrinal  principles  of, 
50 
how  regarded  by  the  Swiss 

Evangelicals,  82 
relations  to  Miinzer  of,  83 
tract  against  Miinzer  by,  87 
tract  on  indulgences  by,  39 


ftfACRINUS,  49 

Mantz,  Anna,  162 
Mantz,  Felix,  75,  85,  95 

arrested  at  Chur  and  impri- 
soned at  Zurich,  132, 133, 
110 

arrested  at  Zollikon,  101 

labors  in  Basel,  163 

last  exhortations  to  the  bre- 
thren, 168-172 

martyrdom  of,  172 

re-arrested  and  condemned 
to  death,  168 

refuses  to  renounce  Ana- 
baptism,  106,  115 

steadfastness  of,  160,  161 

under  sentence,  142 

views  concerning  the  ma- 
gistracy, 102,  166 


228 


INDEX. 


Marbeck,  Pilgrara,  116 
Maximilian,    Emperor,  his  war 
with    the   Confederation, 
18,45 
Megander,  Caspar,  94,  154,  215 
Melanchthon,  on  Miinzer,  83 
Mercenaries,  24 

Metzler, ,  198 

Miracle,  a  pretended,  at  Berne, 

30-33 
Monks  burned  for  a  false  mira- 
cle, 33  (see  priests) 
their   immorality     rebuked 
by  a  civil  ordinance,  29 
Morgarten,  battle  of,  17 
Miiller,  Hans,  131 
Miiller,  John,  the  abbot,  29 
Miiller,     John    (or    Hans),    of 
Medikon,   209,  210,  216, 
note 
Miinzer,  Thomas,  83 

affiliates  with  the  Zwickau 

prophets,  84 
author,    probably,    of    the 

Twelve  Articles,  89 
his  aims  social  and  political 

chiefly,  89 
meets  Oecolampadius,  89 
Melanchthon  on,  83 
ordered  to  leave  Muhlhau- 

sen,  88 
preceded    Luther   as   a   re- 
former, 83 
reforming  work  of,  84 
Myconius,  48,  106,  150 

"WUNS,   faithless  and  immoral, 

29,  30 
Nuremberg,  25,  53 

QCKENFUSS,  Agtli,  162 

Ockenfuss,  Hans,  85 
Ockenfuss,  John,  161 
Oecolampadius,  51,  89 

advises  the  Council  at  Basel 
to    proceed    against    the 
Anabaptists,  204 
beseeches   the  clemency   of 
the  judges,  212 


discusses     infant     baptism 
with  Blaurock,  203 

discussion  on  infant  baptism 
with  Hubmeier,  133-136 

his     works    translated    by 
Ludwig  Hetzer,  194 

kindly  receives  Hetzer,  194 

letter  from  Hubmeier,    15, 
112 
Oeconomus,  Sebastian,  215 
Osgood,    Dr.    Howard,    obliga- 
tions of  author  to,  14 

on  facilities  for  immersion 
at  St.  Gall,  117 

on   immersion   at  St.  Gall, 
117,  note 

reply  to  Dr.  J.  P.  Thomson, 
10 
Ott,  Michael,  215 

PEASANTS'   WAR,  causes  of 
61  sq. 
not  engaged  in  by  the  Ana- 
baptists, 110 
Zimmerman's     history     of, 
61,  note 
Pelt,  Hans,  83 
Pfister,  Ulrich,  27,  note 

Phistermaier, ,  214 

Planta,    on   the    results   of  the 
Reformation  in   Switzer- 
land, 217,  note 
Polt.     See  Eberli,  Hippolytus 
Priests,  illiteracy  of,  28 
immorality  of,  26,  29 
married,  27  (see  monks) 

REFORMATION,     the,    influ- 
ences preparatory  to,  21, 
34 
results  of,   in   Switzerland, 
216,  note 

Regel,  Anna,  196 

Regel,  George,  196 

Rein,  Andrew,  95 

Rein,  Heini,  162 

Reublin,    William,    assails    the 
payment  of  tithes,  61,  63 
banished  from  Zurich,  97 


INDEX. 


229 


baptizes      Hubmeier      and 

others  at  Waldshut,  112 

denounced  as  a  heretic  and 

dismissed  from  Basel,  43 
his    arrest    and     imprison- 
ment, 78 
his  excommunication,    116, 

note 
preaches  against  infant  bap- 
tism, 77 
settles   at  Wytikon  and  is 
publicly  married,  50 
Reuchlin  at  Basel,  21 
Rieman,      Henry,     imprisoned, 
167,177 
martyrdom  of,  192 
Rifferschwyl,  pastor's  opinion  of 

infant  baptism,  77 
Roggenacher,  Anthony,  161 
Rolienburtz,  Huldreich,  189 
Roman   Church   established    in 
Switzerland  by  Gallus,  20 
its  corruptions,  24 
Rothman,  Bernhard,  92 
Roust,    Max,   presides   at   First 

Zurich  Discussion,  51 
Ruti,  cloisters   at,    attacked  by 
peasants,  129 

gAMSON,     Bernard,    and    his 
sale  of  indulgences,  34  sq. 
excluded  from  Zurich,  38 

Sattler,   banished   from   Zurich, 
142 
his  death  by  torture,  142, 
note 

Schad,  George,  131 

Schaffhauseu,  added  to  the  Con- 
federation, 18 
represented   by  Hofmeister 
at  First  Discussion  at  Zu- 
rich, 51 

Schaufelberger,  Jacob,  162 

Schmid,  Erasmus,  27,  note 

Schmid,  John,  27,  note 

Schwytz,  in  league  with  Uri  and 
Unterwalden,  17 

Soleure  added  to  the  Confedera- 
tion, 18 


Spillmanu,  Elsi,  182 

Spires,    Imperial   Edict   of  the 

Diet  of,  216 
Stahelin,  George,  27,  note,  215 
Starck  on   the  steadfastness  of 
certain   Anabaptists   un- 
der persecution,  205 
Stein,  Jacob  de,  36 
Steiner,  Werner,  27,  note 
St.  Gall,  success  of  the  Anabap- 
tists in,  117 
Anabaptists  persecuted   in, 
129 
Strasser,  Gebhart,  131 
Strauss,  Jacob,  86 
Stubner,  92 
Stumpf,  Simon,  26,  note,  50 

assails     the     payment      of 

tithes,  62,  63 
at  the  Second  Zurich  Dis- 
cussion, 69 
banished  from  Zurich  under 

penalty  of  death,  176 
dismissed  from  his  pastorate 

and  banished,  73 
his  doctrine  of  a  converted 
church  membership,  and 
of  the  supreme  authority 
of  the  Bible,  73  sq. 


TECK,  Ulrich,  132,  142 

Tell-Legend,    the,    its    anti- 
quity, 17 

Teufen,  Anabaptist   success  in, 
119 

Thermopylae  of  Switzerland,  the 
17 

Thomam,  Rudolph,  99 

Thompson,  Dr.  J.  P.,  on  Ana- 
baptists of  Germany,  10 

Trachsel,  Balthasar,  27,  note 

Truchsess,  209 

Twelve  Articles,  the,  89 

Twinkler,  the  Abbot,  29 

TJL1MAXN,  Wolfgang,  his  bap- 
tism, 104,  204 
labors  at  St.  Gall,  117,  128 


230 


INDEX. 


martyrdom  of,  at  Waldsee, 

209 
Unterwalden,  leagued  with  Sch- 

wytz  and  Uri,  17 
Uri,  leagued  with  Schwytz  and 

Unterwalden,  17 

yADIAN.   See  Watt,  Dr.  J.  von 
Valais,  ignorance  of  the  clergy 
in,  23 
Vonwiler,  Winbrot,  162 

WAGNER,  Jacob,  55 

Waldsee,  martyrdoms  at,  209 
Waldshut,  Anabaptists'   success 
in,  111-113 
appeals  for  help  in  defense 

of  the  truth,  81 
falls  into  the  hands  of  Aus- 
tria, 152 
Watt,   Dr.  Joachim  von,   (Va- 
dian),  45 
writes  to  Grebel,  93 
opposes    the    Anabaptists, 

127 
mss.  at  St.  Gall,  88 
Weesen,  Bernard,  on  the  mar- 
tyrdom of  Winkler,  211 
Weiss  Bernard,  50,  note 
Weniger,  Martin,  215 
JVesterburg,  Dr.  Gerhard,  91 
Whitney,    Prof.    W.   D.,    on   a 
question   of    translation, 
105 
Wiesendanger,    Jacob    (Cepori- 

nus),  75 
Winkler,    Conrad,   his   martyr- 
dom. 210 
Wissenburger,  Wolfgang,  136 
Wittenbach,   Thomas,    theologi- 
cal professor  at  Basel,  22 

7ELLER,     Jacob,    magistrate, 

196 
Zimmermann,  extract  from  his 

General    History   of    the 

Great  Peasants'  War,  61, 

note 
Zofingen,  discussion  at,  214 


Zollikon,  Anabaptists  imprison- 
ed at,  101 
Zug  joins  the  Confederation,  18 
Zurich,  Anabaptists  sorely  per- 
secuted, 209 

discussion  on  infant  bap- 
tism, 137-141 

first  discussion  at,  51 

images  broken,  65 

infant  baptism  publicly  dis- 
cussed, 94,  95 

joins  the  Confederation,  18 

mandates  of  the  Council 
prohibiting  Anabaptism, 
144-146 

order  rebuking  the  immo- 
rality of  the  monks,  29 

raises  an  armed  force  for 
the  assistance  of  Christian 
brethren  at  Waldshut,  82 

repels  the  Monk  Bernard 
Samson,  38 

the  Council  requires  parents 
to  have  their  children 
baptized  under  penalty  of 
banishment,  97 

Second  Discussion,  67 
Zwick,    John,    his    account    of 
Ludwig  Hetzer's  last  mo- 
ments, 198,  200,  201 
Zwingli,  a  teacher  at  Basel,  23 

at  the  First  Zurich  Discus- 
sion, 51  sq. 

defends  infant  baptism,  122 

denounces  the  sale  of  indul- 
gences, 35 

discussion  with  Blaurock, 
161 

growing  breach  between 
Zwingli  and  the  radicals, 
75  sq. 

has  an  interview  with  Hub- 
meier,  153 

killed  at  the  battle  of  Cap- 
pel,  212 

lectures  on  Matthew's  Gos- 
pel, 40 

letter  asking  permission  for 
priests  to  marry,  26 


INDEX. 


231 


letter   to   Peter   Gvnorans. 

154 
principle    of   doctrine  and 

practice,  50 
public  discussion  of  infant 

baptism  in  Zurich,  137— 

141 
reply  to   Hubmeier's  tract 

Concerning   the  Christian 

Baptism  of  Believers,  140 
stricken    with    "  the   great 

death,"  41 


tract  denouncing  the  radicals 

by,  93,  106 
tract  on    the    Mass- Canon 

by,  60 
transferred  from  Einsideln 

to  Zurich,  38 
view  of  infant  baptism  by, 

76,97 
Vom   T<nif\  Widertouf,  und 

Kindertouf  by,  121 


DATE  DUE 

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A  history  of  the  Anabaptists  in 

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